Philly Farmgirl: a Jewish Mama's homestead in the city

I have been wanting to blog for sometime now. I either did not have time or what I wanted to say seemed so unimportant. With everything that is happening somehow talking about anything other than the spiritual, seems utter vanity. Yet, I struggle with that also thinking to myself, "Is it really such a bad thing to talk about my knitting struggles and roving cravings?" (roving is wool carded and ready to spin) Truth be told, the Baal Shem Tov teaches us that everything can be raised to a level of kedusha (holiness) so I just need to find the spirituality in all my projects.
Right before the Nine Days (The beginning of the Jewish Month of Av until the 9th day of Tisha B'av) I started a tapesty weaving. I have to say that weaving and spinning are for sure my absolute favorite things to do. Unlike any other handwork I enjoy, such a sewing and knitting, when I weave I am not so caught up in the goal of completing the project so much as I am caught up in the actual doing. There is a total serenity that comes over me as I weave and spin. In my incredibly busy life, weaving brings me back to the core of who I am. As I 'color' my picture with my yarn, the back and forth motion reminds me so much of prayer. Rocking gently, my heart either bubbling over with joy or broken with sorrow, I find great comfort there. I play the warp like a harp as my fingers guide the bobbins. Line upon line the picture begins to form, from the bottom up, and only I know what I the end result will be. As I pack the weft tightly together, to the outsider it seems I've made little to no progress, but I truly know the reality of how far I have come. To me the joy is in the creating, the bliss is in the potential beauty I see there. I see the end result in my mind and yet it does not speed my work. I am not eager to complete, I am simply content to do and be.