Shh! I'll get to you in a minute!

Last week was my summer vacation. I know that it is a poor excuse for why it's been almost a month since I have blogged last, but I've been busy.. You know... With stuff... I know you are just dieing to know what I've been up to, so in an effort to be charitable, here is a brief run-down of recent events in no apparent order. (Welcome back to my world!)

This roving decided to become this yarn! It was my first time plying, and I enjoyed the results!!

I decided to use the purty new hand spun, along with this pattern to create this lovely little beret, modeled by the fashionista herself, Mini-Me. If you are interested to know the specs, please check out this. This pattern, by the way, was pretty simple to modify.

Zion decided to come over and play one morning! He and Two Fingers played nicely together. It should be noted that right after I took this picture, he threw the pacifier off of the third floor balcony. When he realized that Mini-Me would retrieve it for him, he did it again. And again. So I had to put the balcony off limits. Poor Mini-Me.

We went down to the beach for a few days! I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I would like to share the dynamic duo of Mini-Me and Sporty Girl. They enjoyed their time together - movies, boogie boarding, and sand crab chasing.

We had not been to visit our friends in quite some time, and the reunion was a great way to wind down the summer. Beer and steamed freshly caught shrimp never tasted so good!

I enjoyed my vacation, albeit uneventful! Most of all, I enjoyed just being Mini-Me's mom for a week! I purposely chose to stay close to home so that we could just do whatever we wanted to. It felt great just letting the phone ring if I didn't feel like answering it. There were times when I actually left the dang thing at HOME. I know, scary, but it felt sooo good.

Let's take a moment to review the summer goals shall we? (Oh wait, I only had one)

Learn to knit socks. Check!

Oh boy, I sure did push myself real hard with the amount of goals I had set, eh? I did manage to find other items to fill up the time - I learned to spin, I became part of a knitting group, I participated in the Ravelypmics, and to top it all out, I got to be Bobicus Maximus for a few days and hand out medals - that was super fun!!

All in all, I'd say it was a good summer! I've made a lot of new friends, tried a lot of new things, and have become much more confident in my skills as a knitter, thanks to the encouragement and assistance of a few awesome ladies! I'm glad I took the time to learn my new skills on my own, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to start a new hobby. I have my own style, that works for me and I don't feel confined to someone else's way of doing things! Because I suffer from arthritis in my upper back and shoulders, I need to be able to do what works for me. I love my hobbies, but not when doing them means I can't sleep because it hurts, ya know?

Speaking of which: Please support those who suffer from arthritis. Here are a few ways that you can do so very easily!

1. Knit socks? Purchase this pattern by Wendy Johnson. Wendy and The Loopy Ewe are donating a portion of the proceeds to the Arthritis Foundation.

2. Visit the Arthritis Foundations' web site, for pete's sake!

3. Go do something nice for someone who has arthritis!

4. Remember that you can be young and suffer from arthritis - it's not just something your grandma gets, people.

Ok, I've briefly run down the highlights of my vacation, shown you what I've been up to, double checked my goals to make sure I had attained them, and discussed arthritis.

I'm glad you all can keep up with the subject matter(s), I can't help it if I've had a lot on my mind!

PS - The goal through Thanksgiving is to blog at least 3 times/week. I wonder if someone can help me find a nifty ticker or something to put on my blog for accountability purposes?