Hat trick

Just in time for warmer weather, I finished a hat for Aidan. I wanted to make him a fun yet functional hat, and chose a simple ribbed pattern called the Rib-A-Roni. My first thought was to use a self-striping yarn, so I bought two skeins of Plymouth Yarn Boku, but that yarn and I did not get along well at all. I wasn’t wild about the colors and, more importantly, it irritated my hands something awful - the skin on my fingers got red and puffy, and it looked in some places like I had burn blisters.

I then bought Cascade Yarns Dolce yarn in three bright colors: Pumpkin, Boysenberry and Pea Soup. I used Pumpkin as the main color, then added a stripe of Pea Soup flanked on either side by Boysenberry:


I like the three colors together, as does Aidan:


There are two more hats in my knitting queue, but after knitting three hats in the last two months or so, I need a break.

Rock puppy

Our continued exploration of our home state took us to Herkimer, NY yesterday. We went to the Ace of Diamonds Mine to prospect for Herkimer diamonds, which are clear double-terminated quartz crystals. Herkimer is in the lovely Mohawk River valley, and the subtle signs of spring emerging along with a sunny, warm day made for a beautiful day to be outside.

It was the first mining weekend of the year and the rock hounds were in abundance. Let's just say it was mainly an earthy crowd (no pun intended, really) and I felt downright Republican in comparison, a rather frightening thought for me.

Aidan quickly took to the concept of smashing rocks to look for crystals:


Both Aidan and James spent a good part of the day climbing around the piles of rock:


I did a little digging and hammering, but mainly just enjoyed the gorgeous day:


Aidan liked that he could get as dirty as he wanted and "whack something and not get in trouble". We were all dirty and sweaty when we got home, but we had a great time. And we came home with a bagful of pretty quartz crystals - a very nice little haul.