There were also several broken tumblers, some filled with sugar-plums, some with marbles; there were, moreover, cakes of various kinds, and barley sugar, and Holland dolls, and wooden horses, with here and there gilt-covered picture-books, and now and then a skein of thread, or a dangling pound of candles.
"Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists"
Washington Irving
Francis Ryan made an uneasy movement, but he was tied and bound with the skein of yarn; and Mrs. Lennard, winding steadily, was smiling into his eyes.
"A Vanished Hand"
Sarah Doudney
It will be most kind if you will hold my skein of yarn."
"A Vanished Hand"
Sarah Doudney