After receiving diagnosis of an autoimmune disease this past January, it was suggested that I take up a stress-relieving activity, as stress can greatly aggravate my disease.

Well, good luck with that, I'm in college, LOL.

That was my initial thought. Being a communications student full-time isn't easy for anyone, disease or not. Throw in a part-time nanny job, an editorial job at the school newspaper, some church volunteering and planning my wedding in six months and I had hit the stress jackpot.

My sweet mother-in-law offered to buy me a month of yoga classes at a studio of my choice to help me manage my stress and add some calm to my sh*tstorm of a life. I was sincerely interested and even went into a local studio's open house to check it out, but for one reason or another never followed through on joining.

I felt like my head was spinning and I barely had time to sleep, let alone add a hobby to my schedule, until after I got married. After I got married in July, my schedule freed up so much I barely knew what to do with myself.

I was no longer in school, no longer planning a wedding, but I still had this awful disease and its nasty symptoms following me, so I figured I'd give a hobby a whirl. It was the right time in my life to do so.

The new hubby and I didn't leave right away for our honeymoon. We left the day after our wedding, and we went to a gigantic state park a state away, where we could be in tune with nature and -- wait, what the heck are we gonna do for four days at a state park?

We weren't even camping; we were lodging. So, before we even left town we decided we needed to bring fun things to do with us to keep us entertained (despite what people think, honeymoons aren't solely a sex marathon).

Anyway, we hit up JoAnn Fabrics before we left because I got this fantastic idea that I wanted to teach myself how to knit. I Googled everything a beginner needs to buy and we got all that stuff, plus some stuff to make each other necklaces (which we still haven't finished).

I was honestly so stoked, but when I began surfing the web some more during our honeymoon to learn how to knit, the Internet told me I should learn crochet first because it was easier.

Long story short, here I am, months later, surrounded by yarn and crochet hooks and I never learned to knit a damn thing.

I ended up really loving crochet. You might even say that I'm hooked.

Sorry, that was awful. Here's a list of some things I've noticed in the last few months while crocheting. My crochet pals will understand.

1. I can never have enough JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby coupons

Before I was very into being crafty, I would seldomly visit these stores and would always have a coupon, making whatever I bought seem like a steal.

Now, I frequent these places so often that the coupons can barely make a dent in my purchases.

Also, the associates ask me "What are you working on this time?" And I'm showing them pictures of how my last project turned out.

It's lame.

2. I can't figure out where to put all this yarn

Like really, it's in my bag, in my car, in my laundry hampers, in my closet, everywhere. Where the heck do I put it all?? I live in a one bedroom apartment, for goodness sake. I'm considering moving just to adequately house all my yarn.

3. Where has all the data on my phone gone?

I don't have WiFi at my apartment, so I have to resort to using up my data when watching YouTube tutorials on how to crochet _______. And if you're familiar with YouTube, you know how one video leads to another. YouTube is like a gateway drug that uses up all my Internet.

4. Cats actually do love yarn

Just look!

And it's just so cute that I can't take it away.

5. Crochet has helped tremendously with relieving stress

Much to my amazement, crochet has actually saved me in a lot of ways. Its given me a way to manage my nerves and give jittery hands something to do besides scroll through Facebook. Its given me an outlet of self-expression (I can create anything I want and make it whatever design or colors or pattern I want). I can give people I love handmade gifts, which gives me the warm fuzzies because gift-giving is my love language. It gives me a sense of productivity and accomplishment when I finish a project. And doing the same repetitive motion over and over (the basis of crochet) is honestly just soothing for some reason.

My finished projects are all a testament to how much stress I've reduced by taking up this new hobby.

Now, can someone teach me how to knit?