I just took an unexpected vacation to the 1800’s, okay not quite literally but 66 hours without power, phone, or internet can feel a bit like it.
Now, some will instantly think this is torture and have tinges of sympathy. However, really it helps me stay humble and grounded…even in my crochet.

It is a time when the world makes me slow down, I am not tied up in the world of social media, I am not browsing Pinterest, I am not finding something to pull me away from the actually stitching of my fabric. I would spend the evening working on a shawl pattern, in almost darkness, with only a firelight and a candle flickering ensuring I found the right placement for my stitches. This is a design that I hope to share shortly, as it is almost complete.

This time also helps me to focus on the strong background of ancestors that formed me the way I am. I know that my grandmother didn’t have the luxury of indoor plumbing for most of her life, that my great grandmother never had electric lights to work by late into the night. Neither were distracted by the world of television, and made it through life just fine. Realizing that all the generations that came before me lived in a world without these modern conveniences, helps to keep me grounded it what is really important.

These 66 hours found my children talking to me, and each other more. Sharing more hopes, dreams and fears then in any given day of the week. They had the opportunity to experience true quiet and a dark night sky. It really can be just the simple things.
I was also able to play with new ideas in yarn, and sketch out ideas for new designs. It may have been an unexpected “vacation”, but sometimes it is exactly what you needed.