You spin me right round, baby...

One of my all-time favourite jokes involves the fellow who prays for years and years to win the lottery until decades later the exasperated voice of G-d* exclaims: “SO BUY A TICKET!” I think the message is obvious, but let me state it anyway: G-d* helps those who help themselves. We need to participate too. *(please feel free to interpolate your universal source or higher power of choice, but this joke needs a little anthropomorphic help)

While tripping the blogverse fantastic this morning, I came across a brilliant example of enlightened self-interest in action: Julie had this idea to raising money for a spinning wheel. For each $10 you donate to Julie’s Wheel Fund she will send you 50g of customized handspun, beautiful yarn created for you on her drop spindle until the wheel becomes hers.

Julie caught the spinning bug a few months ago and realized there's an empty space in her heart and her home where her spinning wheel should be. Since she, like most of us, has a few other three- and four-figure priorities, the cost of a spinning wheel is impractical. But the heart wants what it wants. So Julie asked the knitblogging community for help in manifesting her desire. And because knitbloggers are a friendly, generous bunch she is close to her goal and will hopefully be ordering the wheel by the end of this week! As a member of this friendly, generous bunch, Julie is including tithing in her fundraising and her worthy cause even has a strong thematic relation to her own objective: at least 10% of all the proceeds will be donated to Charkas for Africa.

I'm grateful I haven't yet caught the (potentially expensive) spinning bug - so far knitting is my drug-of-choice, with a serving of (mostly knit-oriented) blogging on the side, and I'm branching out into hand-dyes and some felting in the next few months.  I spend a little bit occasionally on yarn or needles, and some on clothing, cosmetics and shoes (much less now that I have a fiber habit to support).

There are a few longed for items on my own wishlist, some gadgets and toys that would enhance the knitting and blogging experience. But I really can't justify embezzling from the grocery money for them (that's ear-marked for the plumbing repairs anyway). And I also contribute to worthy causes: in my own limited financial way I donate annually to a handful of charities, and I offer my time and talents free of charge to fundraising efforts on behalf of several nonprofit organizations. Those toys won't make me feel happier than paying forward some of the blessings and goodness the universe has sent me.

I must admit my admiration for Julie and her creative approach to fulfilling her dream of wheel-spinning. And I look forward to seeing what she spins for me! From what I've seen on her blog, our tastes run to similar vibrant jewel tones, so I've asked her to surprise me with something soft in a fingering or lace weight. And I've opted to wait until she gets her wheel so she can use it to spin my yarn. It seems somehow appropriate.