These beautiful crochet mandalas are by Madelyn, who you might know better by the beautiful name MadWhimsy. In this post, we look at the different designs she used to make these pretty creations, and we also learn more about Madelyn’s story and the role that crochet has played in helping her along the way. Madelyn writes,
“Sunshine Through the Trees” 12-round crochet mandala by Marinke
“Pink Thready Stars” Carole Collar by P.K. Olsen
“Like so many others, I read about Wink’s untimely passing with shock and sadness. You see, that same week, an old friend of mine was on the brink of taking his life (but fortunately called for help) and I was already reeling from that. Around that same time, I celebrated the anniversary of Life 2.0, after having tried to take my own life 16 years ago. So even though I never met Wink’s gentle soul, her death punched my heart. I truly miss her thoughtful writings.
“Pond Ripple” Halloween Mandala by Crochethome
“Blue Sunshine” – pattern and designer unknown
I have dealt with multiple chronic pain conditions, cyclical depression, anxiety, and OCD for most of my life. I had to quit a career I loved and go on disability 6 years ago due to a migraine that lasted 2.5 years, and now being crazy sensitive to my triggers. But the most difficult illness I deal with is depression, not because I have it every day like I do the other problems, but because it lies to me, it skews my perception, it’s mean to me, it makes me feel worthless, it makes me not care. And it doesn’t just affect the mind, my whole body can be affected by depression, my physical pain is made worse. What with being in pain every day, I actively fight off depression frequently.
“Summer Flowers” Kaleidoscope Mandala by Lynne Samaan aka Da’s Crochet Connection
My whole life I’ve been creative. I’ve sewn, designed clothes, painted, illustrated, made jewelry, sculpted, designed and built things, and had a successful career in magazine design. Most of those things I can’t do when my pain flares, which makes me very sad. But what I can almost always do is crochet. Swooping the hook through the air in predictable patterns, counting stitches, and feeling the softness of yarn are so soothing, and knowing that when I can’t “brain enough” to design, I can still follow beautiful patterns written by others is so helpful, too. It’s quiet, it’s easy on my eyes, it keeps me still, and it soothes my heart and mind.”
This post is part of the Mandalas for Marinke remembrance project.
Kathryn, thank you so much for working so hard on this project, and for providing us with a way to help bring awareness to depression. <3