I began collecting the necessary materials for Yarn Together long before the idea ever came to mind. When I was ten, I asked my great-grandmother, Alfa, to teach me to crochet. Growing up, I enjoyed gathering with the women of my family, listening to their stories and learning how to create handmade pieces. I continued crocheting through high school, college and fifteen years as an elementary educator, where I met a new group of women who  became my family. In 2017 I walked away from teaching to live fulltime on the road Rving with my husband, Mike. I continued crocheting and opened an Etsy shop called FancyChickadee, a term of endearment used by my grandmother. Soon after stepping away from teaching a longing began to grow in my heart. Initially, I mistook the emotion as a need to get back into the classroom. After a lot of soul searching and contemplation, I realized that I did miss teaching, but what I was longing for were the connections I'd lost when I left teaching.