After being out of power for two days, with the possibility to be out again soon… I began to wonder how women used to knit for their families without good lighting. I know some of you are able to knit without looking, but I am not there yet. How did they do it?
OT How did they do it?
well there didnt used to be electricity back in the day…
theres oil lamps and candles and after the days end…i suspect there wasnt too much staying up past dark…
I use oil lamps at night. When Im not doin something real detailed.
saves on the electricity bill.
:knitting:
Melissa
I think one important factor is that back in the day people woke up a lot earlier.More actual daylight hours. In case of black outs though, I have a lot of candles in my house.I tend to use them as my main lighting sources on occasion, instead of using the lights.
Before I could knit without looking I would use oil lamps during power outages.
lots and lots of candles and fireplaces.
when we have our tribe gatherings the only light sources in the tent or at the hoarg come from either the fire pit or candles (a couple of times both)… i knit then (light yarn on medium color or wood needles) while my sister crochets (or tries to, then gives up in frustration when she can’t see). when we have a black out i take out my crystal bowls and put tea lights in them so the light is refracted quite nicely. course nowadays there’s also light up knitting needles and crochet hooks… i’m contemplating picking some up 
I agree with the others prolly got up earlier, went to bed earlier…candles and oil lamps…
We lost power for a week and we broke down and bought a Coleman propane lantern after a couple nights of sitting by candles…it lit up the whole room and I had no problem with knitting or reading 
there’s also light up knitting needles and crochet hooks
I have found those to be very bottom heavy-- the end where the battery goes-- and not very comfortable to use. The larger the needle, the worse it is, and of course, the 14" are worse than the 10". But there is another kind where the entire stick lights up, but I’ve never tried those.
I agree with the daylight possibility, but up in the hinterlands you don’t actually have that much daylight. Sun rises about 7 and sets around 5 if we are lucky. Power is semi-stable now, so I hope to get some knitting done before the next storm rolls through.
Me thinks they knit in daytime only. When we’re “camping”…I rarely never knit until 3am.
I’m in bed with the chickens John by 9pm usually!
Artificial lighting has added quality to our lives…but also a lack of sleep, staying up too late…etc!
Back in the day farms, homesteads, ranches, and even wagon trains did not go by the clock. Work of whatever kind was done by the daylight hours. There was no TV watching, radio listening, computer chatting at night. Those hours were dedicated to sleeping. When the chickens crowed (natures alarm clock), it was time to prepare for the coming days work. Most started just as the sun was barely a glow on the horizon. The only book that was usually read was the bible and that was normally right at bed time. Times were much simpler then but they were also much harder.
During the ice storm last year we lost electric power for 3 weeks. Our rural water company gets their water from a well. No electricity to power the pump means no running water in the house. I had to haul water from my mothers house 40 miles away when I went to wash clothes and visit. My heat for that 3 weeks was a single kerosene heater to heat 1 room. The bedrooms didn’t get heated so extra blankets were piled on the beds. I read my crime novels and knit by headlamp and oil lamp. We cooked/heated our meals on a table top propane grill that could be used indoors. This is also how we heated water for coffee, bowl baths, and washing dishes.
It wasn’t that bad but I sure was glad when it ended and the power came back on. I used to long for the simpler times but I have found that I am addicted to central heat, television, lights, and my computer.
Amen sister! Amen!
Which is why my DH loves to get me up in those mountains with him!
He has me all to himself! My undivided attention! Sweet guy! 
LOL! My family tried to do the whole rooster thing in you know…[I]not[/I] rural America or Mexico.
My cousin Sara(I used to live with her mother and my 5 cousins) brought home three adorable chicks one day from school.Apparently they had some sort of incubation lab in biology, and at the end of that lab they just gave the chicks away to students and nearby farms. Unfortunately, the hours on the clock don’t change according to daylight or even close so the thing kept waking us up at 6 am when our alarms for school didn’t go off till 8:30.At one point, it was waking us up earlier than my Aunt’s 5 am alarm for her hour long commute to work.
So erhm…yeah the family has no more chickens.Poor, obnoxious, little guy was given to my Aunt’s church member…who had a butcher for a neighbor.NONE of us touched that stew except for my aunt >_> He was annoying…but sheesh!
I lived thirteen years without electricity here in Alaska and have only lived in a place I could have it this year. You simply adjust! You do what needs to be done in the daylight hours. I had a propane lamp and cooked with a Coleman camp stove. I used a headlamp quite a bit to do crafts and read. I had a radio with batteries, no phone except a cell the last few years. Now I have electricity and internet access! The electric lights make it much easier to sew, etc. but I enjoyed my time in the bush. Makes you appreciate the simple things.
Yeah…I am not a fan either…I snapped the tip off one without much effort. I didn’t like it at all!
There are glow in the dark needles too…
But you know…when it all boils down to it…I would rather be on my good needles with shorter hours of light then try to flail around on crappy needles for sake of the dark!