AWOL/Pay it forward

I know, I know - I have been absent for too long. For that, my apologies. It was a combination of work, pleasure, travel and exhaustion.

There has been knitting - quite a lot of it in fact - and there has even been spinning. But for pictures of both, you'll have to wait until tomorrow I'm afraid.

Last weekend saw me in the seaside town of Folkestone, for the second time this year. The town, which has been down at heel for quite some time, is undergoing a bit of a renaissance, with money being injected to redevelop some of the shops on the Old High St and encourage creative companies and artists to move in, setting up a new Creative Quarter.

Right now the town is hosting the Folkestone Triennial, which involves the work of 22 artists who have been specially commissioned to create works for and about the town.

As you might expect with any collection of artworks, I loved some of them, disliked others, and was indifferent to the rest. But those which I enjoyed were really quite moving and stimulating. It was great to see a selection of works which were site specific - rather than having to try and relate to items in an art gallery. Most of them could not have existed without Folkestone, its history, faded glory and magnificent sea views.

A few of my favourites are here, here, here and here. The picture above is from inside this little beauty.

My friend and I stayed for two nights and had a brilliant time - flying kites, riding bikes, walking the length and breadth of the town, enjoying random events and planning which empty property would be best for the yarn shop/photography gallery/cafe we were going to set up together.

Sadly there were no scallops, but we did enjoy some fresh sardines and some honey ice cream, although not on the same plate.



I spent most of last week in Porto for work; I know, it's a tough job but someone has to do it! The weather was mixed, but the port (especially the white variety) was superb.

I've been contacted by Kristy aka Pixlkitten, who has promised to pay forward a handmade gift to me!

The catch is, I have to commit to the same promise, so here's your chance! Next Saturday I will pick at random three of the commenters from this post (or as many as there are if there are fewer than three!!) and will send them a handmade gift of some description within the next 365 days! So if you want to participate, leave a comment, including your email address, and I will contact you if you are drawn. Naturally, you have to commit to the same promise via your blog.

Here is my pledge:
"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

What I like about this is the fact that Kristy received a pair of socks from me last year in the Sockapalooza exchange. So to some extent she is paying it back to me...!