With summer winding down, I was reflecting on a recent summer trip we took that helped get me focused and set my sights on the goals for the year ahead.

We were scheduled to leave for our trip to Yellowstone in mid-July. One of our longtime friends had flown in to visit us over the Fourth of July weekend. Kim, my dear friend, has had some difficult struggles in her life recently and was looking forward to a long-overdue break from the stress. She was due to fly back home the day before we set off in our motor home to Yellowstone. She was sad to be leaving, so we quickly changed plans and she joined us on the trip. We went over to Alpaca Direct and picked out beautiful yarn to make a pattern called "The Spring Garden Tee" by Alana Dakos. We would each knit our own tee as a sort of knit-along therapy and a souvenir from our trip.

We also vowed to write our goals out clearly, and then we created vision boards to help visualize our goals. We figured that if we had a clear vision of where we wanted to go for the coming year, we could decrease stress and, at the same time, increase our productivity. It also has been shown in several studies that writing down your goals significantly improves the likelihood that you will achieve them. We vowed that we would control our destiny and not let life control us.

We set out on our journey to Yellowstone and got right to work on our knit-along projects. At the same time, we discussed our goals for this next year. The knitting helped to pass time on the long road trip and I could feel myself relax as the time passed.

Yellowstone was gorgeous and we had a great trip. We saw a ton of Bison and in case you feel the urge to pet one, please resist as people get hurt by them each summer. We saw cauldrons and mud pots, and it definitely made me wonder what's going on underneath my feet!

As the trip came to a close, I put pen to paper and I could not stop writing. I think knitting does that for me - it gives me time to work out my frustrations with the yarn and needles and begin to think more clearly. I can redirect my thoughts and suddenly, huge traumatic events don't seem so huge and I begin to work on solutions. After all, I truly believe that the only limitations we have are the ones we set upon ourselves.

If you swing by our store, you will see how some of the goals I set out are already kicking into action. We have a great set of knitting, spinning and crochet classes for the fall and winter season. We are finding exciting new products for our store and website, and our growing tribe of knitters is filling the store on Open Knitting Night (Tuesday evenings from 6-8 p.m.).

In case you have not heard about us, Alpaca Direct is a direct merchant of high-quality yarn, apparel, gifts and socks. We carry a full line of fiber art accessories, including hundreds of needles and thousands of yarns. Our unique selection of products also includes Peruvian alpaca sweaters, hand-loomed lace scarves, performance alpaca socks and cuddly alpaca teddy bears.

Our building is handicap accessible with ample parking and is easy to find. We are located on Hayden Avenue, just two blocks west of Highway 95 in Hayden.

Our store is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Visit us at 1016 W. Hayden Ave., or online at www.AlpacaDirect.com. We're your local destination for luxury yarn, apparel and gifts. "Like" us on Facebook and Yelp for exclusive coupons, product spotlights and news!

Kelley Hobart is the owner of Alpaca Direct.