Margaret's Story of Crochet Healing Depression

"It was all backwards – I didn't realize I was depressed until I started to feel better, and I started to feel better when I started to crochet.”

I interviewed two dozen women about the health benefits of crochet for my book Crochet Saved My Life. I have since interviewed hundreds of others about this topic but those first initial interviews remain close to my heart. I wrote each one up in “Meet the Crafter” format, incorporating my thoughts with some of what they had told me. One of the decisions I had to make when publishing was whether or not to include those “Meet the Crafter” pages. Although some people have said what I feared they would, that it makes the book repetitive, I’m glad I decided to include them. They are special. I love flipping back through the back and reading these little sections. So, today, I wanted to share one with you: Meet Margaret!

crochet images are mine from tutorials I wrote for Craftsy

Margaret Mills is part of a three-generational household of women crafters. Her mom quilts, her daughter explores a variety of fiber arts and Margaret both crochets and sews. Crocheting has helped her feel better during a bout of depression.

I first learned about Margaret Mills from an article that she wrote for I Heart Art: Portland titled “The Healing Arts and Crafts”. In late 2009 she was watching a lot of movies with her mother who was convalescing and she needed something to keep her busy so she dug out her old crochet hooks and some yarn and got to crafting. I loved her description in the article of what happened next:

“As the rhythmic work, the feel of yarn, and the misshapen poncho taking shape under my hands turned the world from black and white to Technicolor, I realized that I was also dealing with a bout of depression.”