On my lovely weekend with friends a few weeks back, one of them mentioned that spinning (long-draw in particular) is a leap of faith - one simply has to believe that it will happen in order to even attempt it. And I was thinking about that quite a bit this past week. I've been spinning for only two weeks, and I think I'm doing quite well. But I decided to take a bit of a leap of faith.

To push myself a little.

I spun on the higher ratios. I decided I wasn't going to "wait until I'm ready" to spin some silk, and simply take the leap.

And I flew. Here's where I landed:

On my middle setting (8:1) I spun 8 ounces of lovely silk, Navajo plied it, and have a lovely aran weight hank of silk, which will go into a special project I have in mind. Once that was set and hanging to dry (seriously, can I take a hair dryer to silk? I want to knit with this!!!) I popped up to the highest ratio (10:1) with my standard flyer head and spun up some superwash merino I have... I'll ply that tonight, probably VERY slowly, from opposite ends of the same ball, as I have a color theme I'm trying to fit with that. Once I get some more of that spun and plied, I'll try the fast flyer head, which has three more ratios, higher still... and I've got a pound of soy silk that I think will do quite nicely for that...

Of course, I've been putting off this tank top for altogether too long. I've got only the right strap and the back half of the left strap yet to go, but I'm wanting to spin rather than knit right now, so it's taken some effort to get moving on my too-many works in progress...

GB however, was in the store with me (where I did NOT buy yarn, thank you very much - I needed yarn needles) and found some cotton that he likes. So he bought himself some cotton, and size 9 Lion Brand needles, because although the ball band recommended size 7, the size 5, 6, 7 and 8s in the store we were in were all pink, and he wasn't emotionally ready to handle knitting with pink needles. So the pearly size 9s it is, and he'll make dishclothes.

I actually taught him to knit a few years ago, and I think he might remember a basic knit stitch. I'll need to remind him how to cast on, and purl is probably beyond him right now, although if I have my way, he'll be knitting up a storm by this weekend. And hey, we're newlyweds. I still get my way most of the time.

Hopefully sitting on the couch with him knitting will give me reason to sit next to him and also knit, as it's easier to stop and start knitting quickly, than it is spinning... my stops and starts are where the yarn gets uneven when I'm spinning still.

I've had so many "deep thoughts" about faith, and creation, and desire... I guess the non-sappy version of it would be to say that I'm speaking casually with an accountant, and I'm working on my credit ratings, and looking at land options, and trying to find as many ways to get to a point where my career and my soul's desires can mesh.

Thoughts for the Day:

Proverb - “Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.”

Brigham Young - “My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pig, bread already buttered, etc. He will provide us with the ability to raise the grain.”

Brook Foss Westcott - “Faith is indeed the energy of our whole universe directed to the highest form of being. Faith gives stability to our view of the universe. By faith we are convinced that our impressions of things without are not dreams or delusions, but, for us, true representations of our environment. By faith we are convinced that the signs of permanence, order, progress, which we observe in nature are true. By faith we are convinced that fellowship is possible with our fellow man and with God.”