Making Light of a Crisis

Here in South Africa we are once again faced with an ELECTRICITY CRISIS - the worst since our first crisis in 2008.       While extreme electricity price hikes over the past 7 years were supposed to be used to improve infrastructure, the additional millions have instead been used to provide corrupt officials with bonuses and ridiculously high salaries -  so there is no possibility of this crisis ever abating!!

Forgive my rant - but back in my day poor performance was met with disciplinary action NOT rewarded with bonuses and salary increases (does anybody else spot the not here???)!!!

Our Minister of Energy, in her (*cough, laugh, sputter*) infinite wisdom gave a speech saying we should adapt because this is a way of life!     Well OK then!

When ESKOM gives you loadshedding -  make granny squares!!!!

A couple of evenings ago, I was sitting in my recliner, watching "Criminal Minds", working on a new pattern......  when suddenly "hello darkness, my old friend"!!   - We have just been loadshed.

We frantically run around lighting tea lights, giving just enough light here and there so that you do not fall and break your neck, but not enough to actually see what you are doing!!

Three to four hours of doing absolutely nothing is enough to drive me insane - so I grab a hook and a few baskets of scrap yarn and listen to an audio book on my phone (Anne of Green Gables).     Fortunately I am able to crochet a granny square blindly!!   (I am not that awesome yet that I am able to manage anything more complicated!!)

After three hours without power the lights are back on and this is what I have managed......

The following evening I made dinner early, just in case - a lovely homemade chicken pie (the one with the bread triangles and the mayo! - YUM), and I prepare two flasks - coffee for hubby and tea for me.  Thank goodness, because I have just settled into my chair when..... instant blackout!

"Muuwaaahaaa", I laugh in the face of darkness - tonight I am prepared!!!

Light the candles, listen to audio book and start hooking away on my "loadshedding" squares:

The next morning I arranged the squares I had made (a very motley assembly indeed!).     I then started joining them.

I have to do the joining and the working in of the tails (and OH MY GOODNESS what a lot of tails) in daylight - this is not something I can manage in the dark!

By day (whenever I have a quick spare minute) I weave and join!     When the lights go out I crochet!!

I just made this up as I went using a mishmash of colours and scrap yarn.

There is no "pattern" but this is what I did:

24 x 14cm circles in squares grannies (you could try one or two of these patterns:
WADE'S BLANKET CIRCLE IN A SQUARE;   or
BABY GROOVYGHAN CIRCLE IN A SQUARE

24 x 14cm TRADITIONAL GRANNY SQUARES

Add a single row of double crochet in "cream" to each square (the squares now measure 16cm x 16cm)

Join 4 squares with black yarn (2 traditional granny squares and 2 circles in squares) using the VISIBLE JOIN METHOD

You now have 12 blocks of 4 squares each

Crochet a BLOCK STITCH border around each of these 12 blocks (sc, ch row in beige and the dc cluster row in black).

Plan out the larger blocks before you star adding the border so that you can join as you go.

For the border:  1 granny row (black);   1 dc row (tan);   1 granny row (black)

Use the remainder of the scraps to measure out and cut lengths of yarn for the braids (I just wound them around an emery board and then cut through the top and bottom end).      Add a BRAID between each granny cluster!  

This is a very therapeutic, almost hypnotic exercise (so easy that you can make them in the dark!)

A real "feel good" blanket - I put both my time and my scraps to good use!    

We have been quite lucky so far this week - no loadshedding!     I will have to prepare a new "loadshedding" project just in case .......... (*touch wood;   fingers crossed*)