Dreary February

February doesn't seem to be my month for health.  For the second weekend in a row I've been sick.  This time it is definitely a head cold.  This makes the third year in a row where I've been sick for the majority of the month of February.  I honestly think it is my working conditions.  Sixty people crammed into a closed room, most of whom don't take off when they are sick because they are contractors, and as contractors, if you don't work you don't get paid.  As a consequence, germs are passed around continually.  I don't have any hope for my working conditions to change.  Unless, of course, I look for a new job.

This cold better subside by this weekend.  Ed and I are going to Florida for a long weekend.  I really don't want to be on a plane with a congested head.  Sick or healthy, it will be nice to get out of the cold, dreary weather we've been having.  Here's how things look today.  Lovely, huh?

I think I've had enough winter.  Spring can start now thank you very much!  Actually, I've had a couple signs of spring already.  Last week I noticed the peregrine falcons have returned to downtown.  The first sighting was on Valentine's Day.  The second sign of spring was the sparrows chirping this morning at dawn.

Today is Presidents Day which means I'm off work.  Since our trip is later this week, I will only have to work 2 days this week.  I think I can handle that.  My main objective for today is get laundry done so that we can pack and figure out what knitting I'm taking on the trip.  I really should just take a couple UFOs and get them done but I'm being tempted by Joji Locatelli's Odyssey shawl.  I have 3 skeins of Baa Sonoma that would look lovely made up into that shawl.

The colors are, left to right, On the Rocks, Krono-logical and Pebble.  I'll probably wind the balls after I'm done here.

I finished spinning the rainbow roving I bought last year at Wool Gathering.  Here it is finished and hanked.  I had issues plying it.  The ply is looser than I would have liked  It won't work for socks but would make a nice cowl or mittens.

I have a single treadle Lendrum spinning wheel.  I've heard other people comment about having trouble plying.  I tried the tricks they suggested to get it to ply easily but they didn't seem to work this time.  I like the wheel for making singles, but I am thinking of getting a different wheel if it continues.

I have more roving going on the wheel.  This is a brown baby alpaca.  I don't remember where I bought this.  It is very lovely to spin.  I just hope I don't have issues plying it like I did with the above project.

The quilting group I belong to requires at least one donation per member per year. I finished a UFO so I have my obligation for 2019 complete.  This pattern is called Hidden Wells.  I like how it makes an interlocking pattern with the blocks.

The quilting I did on this quilt was simple straight lines.  Last Friday night I was signed up to take a free motion quilting class.  At the start of the class, the instructor told us how to set our machines and gave a practice exercise to do.  That exercised exposed an issue with my sewing machine.  In free motion, you move the fabric in all directions.  Whenever I moved the fabric back toward me, the bobbin thread would not catch the top thread.  The instructor tried to figure out the issue, but after a bit gave up.  She told me that she'd put me on the roster for the April class and asked if I wanted my machine to be looked at by the shop's machine techs.  It was very disappointing to leave the class.  Hopefully the techs will be able to figure the issue and fix it.  I really don't want to buy a new sewing machine, especially when I'm considering a new spinning wheel.  Both are expensive tools.

Low Key Weekend

Each Monday when I arrive at work my co-worker Marcus asks me if I did anything exciting over the weekend.  The excitement scale of my life doesn't reach very high, but my weekends usually involve one or two items to mention.  However, this Monday's report will be an a disappointment because I've been sick.

Ed had some kind of crud.  He started with it over a week ago.  Sore throat and coughing.  He went to a clinic on Wednesday and was given an antibiotic.  When I asked him what he was diagnosed with, he shrugged and said it wasn't strep and wasn't the flu.  Not exactly the answer I was looking for.   Well, whatever it is, I think I have it now.  As my luck goes, I started feeling bad on Friday afternoon.  It's not the kind of illness that knocks you off your feet, so it probably isn't the flu.  (I did get a flu shot this year because I didn't want a repeat of  February 2017.)  It's probably a cold, but it doesn't have a lot of congestion with it.  Just an occasional feeling like a mild fever, slight sore throat and a general feeling of no energy.  Because of this, my Saturday night was spent wrapped up in a blanket while reading a book.  To be honest, I loved it.  I only wished I could have read more than a couple chapters before I fell asleep.

The book, by the way, is call The Alice Network.  Lately I seem to be reading more books that do parallel story lines.  This one takes place in both post-WW II and during WW I.  It's fiction but it does involve a true spy network.  The real life leader of the network during WW I is a secondary character in the book.

My January sweater knitting came to a screeching halt weeks ago.  I've picked up other projects to get some knitting mojo back.

The Oktoberfest scarf is one that I can probably finish soon.  I am more than halfway through the border.  The pattern is making sense to me now so I can crank out rows while watching television.  My plan is to have this done this month.

Last time I mentioned about buying some Rowan Cocoon for slippers.  I made a pair last weekend.  They are very fast to knit.  I'll get a few more of these cranked out over the next few months.

Later this month my oldest daughter is going on a mission trip for school.  She doesn't know yet what she is going to do with her cat Nala.  I'd like to have the kitty come stay with us, but the logistics are a bit complicated.  Kristin sent me this picture the other day.  This makes me miss her so much more.  

And by her I mean both Kristin and Nala.