Note that both "thread" and "sweater" are pronounced with a short e, as if they were spelled the way you originally wrote them. I think there are a few other "ea" words that do this, but it's definitely not the most common reading for that combination of vowels. American school children who are learning to read by phonics usually treat these words as "sight words", meaning they simply have to be memorized, because the pattern for them is too obscure to be helpful.
If I had more thread , I could knit another sweater for you.
If I had more yarn , I could knit another sweater for you.Thread is for sewing.Yarn is for knitting.
Note that both "thread" and "sweater" are pronounced with a short e, as if they were spelled the way you originally wrote them. I think there are a few other "ea" words that do this, but it's definitely not the most common reading for that combination of vowels. American school children who are learning to read by phonics usually treat these words as "sight words", meaning they simply have to be memorized, because the pattern for them is too obscure to be helpful.
Another, albeit a bit less common, is "dread". Oh, and "spread".