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.