Years and years ago, I was a young 10-year old girl that wanted to learn to crochet just like my aunt. My aunt had crocheted meticulous pieces for years including award-winning christening gowns. I wanted to learn to crochet so that I may do that too!

So she sat me down and showed me how to chain stitches but the yarn wouldn't glide through my sweaty, nervous hands. I was frustrated because I wanted to be the best crocheter too! I even recall her knocking me up side the head with a crochet book! She was joking of course, I think...

But I was born a fighter and I didn't back down. So I practiced. I bought cheap $1 yarn and I chain, and chained, and chained; until I ran out my yarn. In the beginning, my projects looked like asymmetrical pieces that would make you cock your head and say, "Ah. Yes, it looks like a scarf." But eventually, after a few years, things started to balance out. And then I never stopped.

Crochet is a dying craft. One might think that crochet has been around for centuries, you'd be surprised. It's actually only been around for about 500 years, which is pretty new since knitting ties its roots to the 11th century. And that is our reminder that knitting and crocheting are NOT the same thing.

So why should you care? Why should you care about a talent that creates doilies and tea kettle covers? Because crochet is a form of art, a family tradition, it is our history.

I have never met my great-grandma, I will never have the chance to learn from her, and I will never hear her voice. But I have held the afghans that she crocheted. I've held something that her very hands created, and how beautiful is that? Crochet allowed me to take one of her creations and create my own interpretation of it. The afghan on the right was crocheted by my great-grandma and the left is my version.

My great-grandma crocheted and she taught my aunt, my aunt crochets and she taught me, I crochet and someday I will teach the next in line. It is our way of life. Crocheting is to us what football is to some families. It is how we pass down our traditions, it is how we stay connected to our ancestors, it is how we teach our women.

I have crocheted for more than half my life. Can you believe that? I have been crocheting for more than years than I have been driving. And only one of those is a talent for me (wink, wink). I've crocheted it all. Beanies, beards, even a sweater for my cat!

I won't let crocheting die. We have came too far to watch this generation stay addicted to their phones and not learn to create. It is crochet that the Irish women in the 19th century learned so that they may provide for their families during the potato famine.

Crocheting is more than just the thing your grandma does while she watches re-runs of "The Golden Girls."It is more than a stress reliever, although it gets stressful itself. Crochet is a piece of our history, it allows us to leave behind a piece of ourselves, and I swear... it is not the same thing as knitting! So whatever you are doing, stop. Pick up a crochet hook, go buy a crochet book, and voulez-vous crochet avec moi?