Hi everyone!  My name is Sharon Hoelzle (pronounced Hells-Lee).  I'm on Instagram, Etsy and YouTube as Stitches by Sharon H, and have a channel by that name as well.  I live in Langhorne, (a suburb of Philadelphia) Pennsylvania with my husband (we'll be married 30 years on April 4th of 2023!!! 😁).  We have two sons - the oldest is Matthew who now lives in Dallas, Texas and is a manager for a company called SEMRush, and my youngest is Jarett who just moved back home after working in Indiana for a year.  He's an Energy Engineer with a minor in Electro Chemicals and is now working in Bordentown, NJ as a Battery Engineer (which is what he did in Indiana).  We have two Boston Terriers, Zoey, who is also my Service Dog, and Oreo; and we have two Box Turtles, Tucker and Turner.

I started out as a knitter and was a teacher. (I taught kindergarten for 7 years, got my Master's Degree in Guidance Counseling and worked as a Guidance Counselor for six years before returning back to teaching in Philadelphia.  I taught third grade, moved to 4th grade for the next 8 years and then taught 6th grade Language Arts (English) for the next three years.  I had been diagnosed with Celiac (I need to eat Gluten Free), Raynaud's, Osteoarthritis and then Fibromyalgia.  I began randomly passing out and in January of 2015, passed out at work and lost use of my left leg and foot.  After two weeks in the hospital, I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and went to a rehab facility for the next four weeks to try to get back use of my left leg and foot.  What I got back, was pain and swelling.  Three months later I was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).  I was officially labeled Disabled and forced to retire from teaching, as I was unable to walk on my own, (I need a wheelchair for long distances and a walker for short distances) and I need to keep my left leg and foot elevated as they swell up when hanging down.  In addition, I need frequent access to the bathroom as I need to drink 2-3 liters of water a day to stay hydrated so I don't pass out (due to POTS).

I later developed Gastroparesis, and now have a loop recorder to monitor my heart after passing out this past December and ending up in the ICU with a brain bleed.  Thankfully, that healed on it's own!

During the pandemic, I retaught myself how to crochet - I had learned a little bit as a child but didn't stick with it, relearned as an adult when I was pregnant with my first son, but again had stopped, and then relearned basic stitches when I was teaching knitting at my local Michael's store.  I've been hardcore crocheting ever since finding Tiffany's channel and a couple other YouTubers that I really enjoy.

So, that's my basic story.  Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to learn more about all of you!