This adorable Woobles crocheting ad has been warming hearts 💕 across the globe, and deservedly so. I personally was grinning from side to side when the video cut to this last scene of the boys crocheting, as it brought back memories of my own real-life Woobles story.

The year was 1998 and I was taking Art class in 6th grade. Our teacher, a calm, bearded middle-aged man, would always work on his crocheting project while the students were working on our assignments during class. One day, I was intrigued, so I asked him to teach me.

It turned out, I took to crocheting pretty quickly, and my aunt also gave me added tutorial at home. So for the next several weeks, I would crochet in class along with my teacher when I had free time.

And then another student, this one redheaded boy with freckles, was intrigued from the cool stuff we were crocheting, and HE wanted to learn too. And we taught him.

Then before you knew it, several other students in the class, boys and girls, were learning to crochet. The common theme everyone said was: “This is actually relaxing!”

Now, personally, I’m more of a knitter than a crocheter, but I enjoy both crafts. And I’m not surprised that crocheting and knitting are now finding a new audience in a young generation that’s dealing with more anxiety about the future than ever.

If you haven’t taken up a craft (it doesn’t have to be knitting/crocheting) that fosters creativity, dexterity, motor skills, mindfulness, and tranquility…I highly encourage you to do so. And hey, it never hurts to have the handy skill to create anything from scratch.