I chose an empty spool to start  A small spool of wood with a donut hole through from top to bottom.  No sign of what color it once held.  Simply holding space.  Investigation yields clues - Belding Corticelli Nymo Nylon  imprinted on the top - 100 yards size A. The Bottom  similarly marked.  Size A  15 cents.  Shade - white - use warm iron.  Ha!  it suggests that what is sewn with this old white thread would require ironing.  The iron - one of the things I "let go of " when I moved  knowing that mine was old, moms probably older, and also that when I start over  - again -  I will get a new one.  It is a familiar tna spool.  Not brown, not beige, but tan- the color of my sunstained wrists.  It is rough cut, not finished, not polished, Like me, it is still useful - with some investment of time. And love. 
A good new beginning.