Knitting in the dark



I was going to write yesterday, I had it all planned out.  Then what happens?  A huge power surge followed by hours of Victorian style living thats what.

I was sitting at my little crafty desk after lunch, happily sewing away when the lights (and machine) flickered, dimmed, revived, then died out completely.  Oh joy.

It's not an infrequent thing to happen around these parts, in fact, it's come to be rather the way of life.  We often get a brief power cut or two one day, another the next and then all fine for a month or so.  Normally it's only for a minute or two.  Everything so hum drum and regular, or so I thought to start with.


It turns out that this was not to be a brief one, or even a fairly short one.  This outage was to be a nine hour whopper of a cut.  Ok, so not the worst thing in the world but it sure does make you appreciate the simple beauty of a working light switch.

So, apart from cooking dinner by candle light and cleaning the child's teeth in the semi-dark, what's the biggest challenge?

Knitting in the dark of course.  Living in a power cut prone area, I am at least armed with an abundance of candles.  So I prepared the area.



Looks quite cozy doesn't it?  I thought so too, so I got changed into my most  comfortable and snuggly clothes and prepared for an extremely quiet night in.

Pleasingly, I got it quite nicely bright.  Plenty enough light to knit by and passed a few happy hours row by row, not missing the tv, the audiobooks or even the chatter of another as the husband was out for the evening.  The only thing wanting was a nice hot cup of tea.  That would have made it perfection.

The child was so taken with dinner by candlelight that she's requested that we do it again very soon.  Turns out power cuts aren't all bad.

~ ❀ ~

Next time, I'll post what I had been planning to write about last night.  This little book here...






...till then.


S x



Comments

  1. Doesn't everything look so cosy by candlelight! Looking forward to hearing more about the crochet book - it looks lovely!
    Victoria xx

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  2. Wow, nine hours is a long time without power and, more importantly, without a cuppa! The candles do look very pretty and I think, all in all, there are worse ways to spend an evening! :-) Abigail x

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  3. I do love candle light. We're sitting here this evening in almost complete candlelight apart from a small lamp at the other end of the room. Makes everything so cosy and snug. Glad you got the power back eventually though. Fiona x

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  4. After Christmas I will be moving in with my partner, a wonderful cottage in the middle of nowhere. Only snag is electricity come from a generator. I knit by head torch. Works really well. Think that I will find it hard to adjust no Internet, water from a well. But the good outweighs that bad points, plus batteries are cheap for head torches!!

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  5. I love the candle look though, pretty!....I know how it feels when the power goes out, makes you really appreciate electricity! Have a great day! Holly

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  6. I always love a good powercut. The candles come out, there is no TV, computer, noise even. The old board games come out...real family time. It just looks so cosy. However, it doesn't get the washing done!

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  7. We had one awhile ago. It definitely makes you realize how much you rely on uses power! ;) Glad it wasn't too long! Have a lovely weekend! xo Heather

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  8. It looks very atmospheric with the candles. On our last power cut DH dug out his camping head torch - very bright to knit with but not so atmospheric :)
    x

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  9. Hi Sandra - I live in South Africa and we get plenty of power cuts here!! I have 8 kerosene (or paraffin) lamps like this one http://des509finalmajorproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/kerosene-lamp.html dotted around my house and they are great. Give a fantastic light (to knit, crochet or read by) and they're really cheap to buy and maintain. I'm sure you could get one or two at your local camping or hardware shop. They're safer than candles too.... lol xxx

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  10. I don't remember the last time we had a power cut - but then I practically live in the city centre so I suppose we're one of the first to come back on.

    If you managed to cook the kid's dinner - doesn't that mean you have a gas stove = pan of boiling water = cuppa?

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  11. I remember having loads of power cuts when we were kids and we always really enjoyed them!

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  12. Oh that does look cosy!!

    Despite a large National Grid station only being a mile or so away hidden in the countryside, we too often get power cuts and the kids always love it!!

    I always wonder if the birth rate peaks nine months later after all the early nights!!

    S x

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  13. I dread to think what my knitting by candlelight would look like, it's dodgy enough in the daylight! Looks like you had a very cosy evening :-)

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  14. What a beautiful picture. It makes me feel warm and snuggly! And HAPPY!

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  15. Hi Sandra, there's something almost romantic and ....kinda backs-to-the-wall-we-shall-survive about life when the lights go out, isn't there! We have easy to get at torches and loads f candles and esy to get at boxes of matches, as our little corner of the village used to be very very prone to regular 'outages', but seldom now.

    Funnily enough, my first thought now is not 'oh the freezer'! but 'oh the computer'!!! :)

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  16. That does look like a very cosy way to spend an evening knitting! What did you knit?

    Meals by candle light are the best, or maybe meals by firelight are, it's a close run thing. But best of all if you can choose to switch the light on if you need to see something better!

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  17. We constantly get power cuts too. Are we neighbours lol? Can't wait ot hear your review of the book as it is on my wishlist. x

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  18. Beautiful candlelight pictures, Wendy xx

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  19. It's too bad that you didn't have a nice cup of tea to accompany your knitting, but at least you got to knit =D

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