Mandalas For Marinke

The views expressed in this post are solely my own.  They do not represent my friends, community or anyone else except for myself.

As many of you have heard we lost one of our own this past week.  Marinke, aka Wink lost her battle with depression and took her own life.  I did not know Wink nor did I read her blog.  When I heard this news I did go and read her blog to see who she was and what her blog was about. 

Even though I did not know Wink, the news of her passing really hit me hard.  My heart was breaking for her family and followers.  I too, suffer from chronic depression and PTSD.  I take medication nightly for these conditions.  Depression is an invisible illness and it affects many, many people.  I am also a stage 4 cancer survivor.  I fought so hard for my life; I don't understand how one can take their own life or the life of another.  I had to take some time off, away from my computer to process everything that I was feeling.  I cried, prayed and cried some more.  I made a Mandala, one of Wink's patterns.  I am including a picture of it and a link to the pattern later in this post.

Wink's blog A Creative Being is a happy and fun place to visit.  Her work with color is astounding.  You can tell by her posts that she truly enjoyed all things crafty, especially crochet.  You can visit her blog here at A Creative Being. 

Crochet really helped to heal Wink, as it does for so many of us in the crochet community.  We all have our own reasons for why we crochet.  I picked crochet back up after a very long absence while I was recovering from cancer surgery and treatment.  It gave me purpose, I crocheted for family, friends and for anyone that wanted something handmade by me, Cheryl.  Crochet gave me something to be proud of, something to talk about and most of all something to take up the long hours of being home and not being able to do much more than sit in bed.  Crochet gave me the outlet that I needed to get through a difficult time in my life.  I truly wish that crochet could have saved Wink from the darkness that was engulfing her.  I pray for her soul and for her loved ones.

One of the things that Wink enjoyed creating are Mandalas.  Mandala's are a 1. symbolic, pictorial representation of the universe.  The word mandala comes from the Sanskrit word "disc".  They originated in the 4th century as a part of Buddhism.  They are now created all over the world.

The crochet community has many mandala patterns to chose from.  Many of them are free patterns.

1.  JOHN BOWKER. "Maṇḍala." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Jul. 2015 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. 

Many people crochet these mandalas as a way to work through stress, grief, sadness and the many other emotions that we as humans feel and process.  Kathryn of Crochet Concupiscence is putting together a memorial project for Wink.  You can make a mandala from one of Wink's patterns in honor of her.  There is more information about this project on Kathryn's blog.  You can also post a picture of your mandala on Instagram with the hashtag #MandalasforMarinke.  The photo to the right is the mandala I made for Kathryn's project.  You can find the pattern for Wink's Spoke Mandala here.  Making this mandala helped me process the many emotions that I was feeling.  There are many tears worked into the stitches.

Starflower Mandala, pattern by Zooty Owl

Spoke Mandala, pattern by Wink of A Creative Being

I made a second mandala over the weekend.  This one is for me.  I made the mandala to the left with a pattern from Zooty Owl Cards.  It is called Starflower Mandala, the pattern is free.  I have included links to it here in this post.


While I do not understand the whys of this world; I am glad that I have had the opportunity to know of Wink and the true Creative Being that she was.  She leaves us with a beautiful legacy of patterns to create in her memory for our own healing, health and happiness.  God Bless you Wink, may you have finally found the light that you seek.