Praying God's Wisdom: Spinning a Thing of Beauty

 

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

 I am a fiber artist, I have been most of my life, but it wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I began spinning. My Mom got me started by handing me a drop spindle, a very similar concept to what was used back when this verse was written, one evening when I was over to visit. She walked me through the basics of its use and once I got going I couldn’t stop. 

I used a drop spindle for months and then “graduated” to a spinning wheel when my husband bought me one for Christmas that year (with my Mom’s help of course). 

When you spin, you are lengthening the wool fibers and twisting them into a (typically) fine thread. The fibers have microscopic barbs on them that tangle with one another, keeping the thread, or single, intact. But if you pull too strongly on this thread, accidentally or on purpose, it will usually fall apart. While the fibers are grabbing each other, their hold is tenuous at best. This is where plying comes in. 

With plying, you take multiple singles and put them together. You don’t just wind them up side-by-side. No, first you have to unwind each single a little, loosening it’s hold on itself, and then twist it together with another. For example, when I spin a single, I turn the wheel, or the drop spindle, to the right, clockwise. This creates a twist in the single that spins in one direction. Then, when I ply singles together, I turn the wheel or drop the spindle in the opposite direction, counter-clockwise. This unwinds the singles a little, removing twist, and then twists them together in the opposite way. When you do this, you loosen the hold the single has on itself and encourage it to grab onto the single(s) you are plying it with, creating one, cohesive yarn. When you pull on the yarn, it will be very hard to break, maybe even impossible with your bare hands. These singles that have let go of themselves a little and inextricably connected with the others have formed a far tighter bond and are immensely stronger than before.

 Unless they are branching off into an obscure art-inspired project, most fiber artists will not work with singles. When knitting or crocheting, these singles will constantly fall apart and make your work more of a misery than a joy, and your finished project will lack durability – don’t ever wash it! Once you start looking into plying, the most common numbers of strands used are two or three. A two-ply yarn will be a little lop-sided, leaning to one side so to speak. It is softer and the fibers are more open, so it gives a finished project a fluffier halo effect. This type of yarn is favored for lace definition, making the “holes” in the lace pattern more open, and is often used with shawls, scarves and other garments where “drape” matters. But you would never use a two-ply yarn with socks! No, for items that will see use and wear, you definitely want a three-play yarn. You see, three-ply is characterized by a rounder, more uniform look, strength, and consistency. That third ply balances out the yarn helping it to work straight and enhancing stitch definition. It gives your finished work strength and durability, a crisper and sturdier feel, and it makes your colors pop.

 I love how everyday things in life point to Jesus! Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes must have felt the same way as he drew the parallel between relationships and spinning. In Israel during this time, spinning was as essential a skill and activity as cooking. If you wanted to eat, you had to cook (there was no McDonald’s on the corner). If you wanted to wear clothes, you had to spin. They didn’t have Walmart or online shopping. Yes, if you were a single workman who spent their waking hours on a trade, you might be able to pay someone else to make your garments, but most families did this for themselves, just as they made dinner or their daily bread. There are places in the world today where everyone spins, even children. One author of a spinning book related her experience as an ex-pat in the middle east when she lived there as a child with her parents and people thought something was wrong with her because at 5 years old she couldn’t spin while walking as all her contemporaries could. You see, it takes A LOT of spinning work to make enough yarn for a garment, everyone needs to get in on it. So, the people that Solomon was writing to would have picked up on this analogy instantly. They would have known that of course you have to have three strands together to make a strong cord. Because that is less obvious to the reader today, I thought I’d break it down for you, hope that helped.

 So how does this analogy play out in relationships? Solomon shared that in the broader passage (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). He explained that two people have a better return for their labor. If you fall down, you may be out of luck if you don’t have someone to help you up. Further, when it’s cold at night, lying in a bed alone will lead to sleeplessness whereas if you have someone to share body heat with, both of you will be comfortably warm. If you are attacked, a sole person will be easily overpowered, but two people together can fight their way out. It is with all this lead in that Solomon finally shares, “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Wait! He jumped from two to three without any explanation! Or did he? In another biblical passage, Matthew 18:20, we read that where two or more are gathered in Jesus’ Name, He is there with them, making them three. It is that third strand that gives yarn balance, strength and security, and having Jesus at the center of a relationship does the same thing. A two strands in a yarn can support each other, but they can also collapse inward. When you have three strands, a structure is created that holds its shape under tension. It is in this tension, something all of us know in relationships, that Jesus holds us together.

Here's the Thing: We were not created to do this life alone, but our relationships were not intended to operate independently from our connection to God either. It is all intricately, inextricably connected. When you invite Jesus into a relationship, you are creating a lasting thing of beauty, something that will withstand tension and time.