The Missionary Position

I know I am taking some chances with that title--especially with those 6 guys from Morocco and Iran who keep checking out my website using the search words "love fotos."

Yesterday Shawn and I spent two hours helping two friends learn to spin. One of women had once mentioned in conversation that she would like to learn and I bugged her...I mean...followed up with her on a regular basis until we made a date to really sit down and do it. There was a moment yesterday when I realized that, while I do enjoy teaching people to knit and gladly do so whenever someone asks me, I have something of a missionary zeal when it comes to spinning. I can't really put my finger on why I think the world would be a much better place if we all spent a little time each day at our spinning wheels, but at least I do have some illustrious precedents (think: Gandhi).

When I think of it, I realize that the experience of taking a dirty, greasy, sometimes poopy sheep fleece, washing it, drying it, dyeing it, carding it and spinning it (and then knitting it, if you must), is all about moving from the chaotic to the sublime. And it is an experience that requires huge amounts of patience, a challenging skill to learn at the best of times. I may not be able to stop the ice caps from melting or prevent a child starving for want of a few grains of rice, I may not ever convince Dick Cheney that war is not the answer, but I can do this. Spinning as metaphor for everything.

So my apologies to all whom I have bored with long soliloquies about the advantages of one wool over another or the concept of navajo plying. I know shoving a ball of fleece under your nose and saying "just feel it! touch it!" may not be winning me friends or influencing people, but like every missionary, I am a bit overly enthusiastic. I do appreciate your patience.