Worldwide Knit in Public Day 2019

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dining carriage, dining cart, handdyed, handknitting, handmade, heidelberg, heidelberg beers, heidelberg breweries, heidelberg station, heidelberg station museum, heritage beer, heritage beers, knit, knits, knitted, Knitting, luna fibers, project bag, project bags, scarf, Shawl, steam locomotive, steamtrain, steamtraintrip, the culinary express, train, traintrip, travel, umbala yarns, worldwideknitinpublicday2019

This weekend saw the 2019 Worldwide Knit in Public Day on Saturday.

The local steam train group Reefsteamers joined in, and planned a steam train trip for all to the town of Heidelberg, with stalls and a market and lunch and much more.

So Saturday morning was a lovely early start to the station to meet “Susan” the 100 year old steam locomotive and train carriages that would take the group to Heidelberg and back.

It was a beautiful day.  The train ride was stunning, and we all got a load of knitting done.  I started two new projects, and took the one with the least concentration required.  Snacks and cupcakes and coffee were available in the dining room.

The lovely Luna Fibers rode on the train with us, and had a bunch of yarns and other pretty goodies for us to look and purchase from her.  She even had little gifts, specially for all the knitters. I got a very aptly names skein from her, “Traveler”  🙂

At Heidelberg, the “Old Shed” was converted into a mini market, with stalls and goodies.  I got a beautiful skein on Umbala lace yarn, new to me.  I also met a local seamstress that makes the most interesting bags.  I loved this one, with its pockets for patterns and goodies, and big enough for a notions baggie and a project bag.

The museum that is now housed in the old station building was a delight, and the tour guide most knowledgeable on history.  I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

 

Lunch is served in a train carriage / dining car or outside under the huge palm trees.  The menu has everything from snacks to perfect burgers and grills. The salads were nice big portions.

No trip to Heidelberg is complete without a quick visit to the Heidelberg Brewery to see their impressive kettles, and enjoy the aroma of the various beers.

I finished off the day with some goodies for Miekie.  She got a new sweater, and who could resist this lovely princess bed.  🙂  I traveled home with it, and she was so impressed with it, she made herself comfy in it and immediately slept in it.  Definitely a good purchase.

A stunning day from very early to a very late arrival back on the outskirts of Johannesburg.  Loved the train ride, and the old station.  A day to remember.

 

 

 

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Beautiful Namibia

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big daddy dune, birds, deadvlei, desert, dune, dune45, dunes, flamingo, flamingoes, guinea fowls, lodge, namibia, oryx, roadtrip, roadtrips, sossusvlei, springbok, sunset, swakopmund, tropic of capricorn, walvisbaai, walvisbay, wildebeest, wildlife, windhoek, zebra, zebras

Not a lot of crafting happened in the meantime, but I had a very good reason for it.  🙂

I was fortunate to travel to our neighboring country, Namibia, for a holiday and break.  Namibia is just a 2 hour flight away, and now I wonder why I have never been there.  It is a stunning place to visit.  It is a desert and very dry, but still so beautiful.

Wildlife and more in Windhoek

So amazing to see the birds in Windhoek, with guinea fowls visiting every morning, waking you with their chatter.

Road from Windhoek to Sossusvlei

Taking the 400 kilometer road trip to Sossusvlei to relax in the desert. It was a long and dusty gravel road All the Way!

Sossusvlei (sunset, and the view from the lodge)

Our oasis in the desert.  The views are stunning, and the wildlife comes right up the lodge to drink water at the local watering hole.

Sossusvlei Dunes and Deadvlei

The dunes and deadvlei.  An experience to remember forever.

Desert animals

Not to mention the wildlife in the desert, that would always find the trees close to water.  Oryx, Springbok and Wildebeest.

Tropic of Capricorn, Desert, Beach and Walvisbay Flamingoes

Heading north again, and crossing the Tropic of Capricorn.  An experience I will always remember, that was something I never thought I would get to do.

The desert view was the view from my bedroom, looking straight out over the dunes and desert.  The front dry area is the river bed, dry at the moment.  Not much rain there for a while.  Got to spend time at the beach in Swakopmund, even though it was very chilly and windy.

And visited the large colonies of Flamingoes at Walvisbay.  Lovely viewpoints where one can stop and see them and get a bit closer for photos.

Swakopmund Beaches

Last quick visit to the beach at Swakopmund to enjoy a coffee on the beach and collect some shells and pebbles.  Then back to SA again.

I am definitely planning to visit Namibia again, and spend a much longer time here.

 

First up – my finished projects

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basket, basket cover, bunny, crochet bags, crocheting, cross stitch, cross stitches, cross stitching, festive season, floppy bunny, gnome, granny squares, hand knitted, hand knitting, hand stitched, handknit, handknitsocks, handknitted, handmade, handsewing, happy holiday socks, hat, holders, kitchen cloths, knitted, Knitting, minions, pinboards, sewing, Shawl, socks, Stitching, tissue holder, toaster cover, triangular shawl, work carry all, Wrap

So since I last posted about life in the little black dog household, sometime last year, I have been slowly and steadily crafting here and there, and keeping busy.  It was lovely summers days, and hot, so crafting was not always done, and when I was crafting, it was small items that was easy to work on.

Very few are currently WIP’s and I did indeed finish most of the projects I started during the last few months.

 

Some cotton dishcloths for the kitchen, with little crocheted flowers.  And a cheerful make up bag for a sweet and friendly colleague of mine.

 

One of the bigger projects, a very soft shawl with an autumn coloured edge.  Nearly time to start wearing it, it is just a few degrees cooler here now.  And a granny square, paisley pattern lined toaster cover.  🙂

 

When I dropped in at the LYS, she was working on this stunning basket pattern and kit.  It was super quick and easy, and I now take it every day I come to work, it is perfect for lunch and snacks and all the other odds.  I also finished Bop a Long, the furry bunny I had been planning.  It was a trying project, as the fabric shed fur all the time, and I had fur everywhere.

 

For the holidays, I got the notion to “invite some friends” and some cute gnomes came around to visit. This one with the red hat was very popular.  And I had to have a pair of red socks to wear as well.

 

My daughter gave me this stunning yarn from Italy, and I just knew it would be perfect for this wrap the moment I saw the pattern.  It really shows up the details and texture.  And I even had enough for a little hat too.  Even my old pin notice board got a new vintage look cover with storage pockets.  (it really needed a make over)

 

I bought this little kit last year in Brussels, Belgium and got it stitched up in no time once I got started.  The pieces were all pre-cut.  How nice.  Now it travels in the car with me every day as a little good luck charm.

 

And during a visit to the local huge fabric and craft warehouse, I happened to come across these cute minions.  I immediately knew they needed to come home with me.  So I got a few balls of Turkish cotton and crocheted some little pockets and added the minions to them.  Now my tissues and hand wipes are neat and tidy in my handbag, and I can have the little minions around all the time.

And this is the current progress on the cross stitch work I started last year.  Still much a work in progress, but making steady progress.  I absolutely love the embroidery floss and the gradient it creates.

And that is it for now, happy crafting to all and take care.  🙂

ps:  This was the start of my day this morning, a beautiful Fall day.

On my way to work on this lovely foggy morning.

 

 

Hello again

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blogger, blogs, dog, hello, home, I am back, Little black Dog, Miekie, writing

Hello again to everyone.

I have been a bit on the quiet side here, and have not been posting as much.  For no specific reason, just busy with live and work and such.  But all is good, and I will be catching up again with posts and news.

Just in the meantime a greeting from me and the little black dog, whom is still very happy and living the spoiled live.  Here she is, napping on my bed.

Stay well and enjoy the weather, wherever you may be.  It is slowly cooling off here now after a very hot (heatwave conditions at times) summer.

The Little Black Dog