Coping with grief and loss - introducing a modern therapeutic crochet blanket

Coping with grief and loss - three years ago I wrote about how therapeutic crochet can be in helping to process grief. I've recently re-discovered the benefits of crocheting in this regard, in a profound and personal way.

In December 2024, on Boxing Day (or December 26th for my U.S. friends), my mother was admitted to hospital. A week later I was told that she wasn't expected to recover and in January, she died. I'm in Canada and my mother lived in the UK. I couldn't afford to go and see her in hospital, or attend her memorial service. But even if I somehow found the money to fly to the UK, I couldn't leave my children.

As I often have done, I turned to crochet for support, and designing and making this modular blanket kept me sane:

But it wasn't enough for me to use crochet as a self soothing activity to keep my mind and hands busy while I was grieving. I see crochet as not simply a beautiful, meditative craft, but as therapy. So I decided to revisit the design and consciously remake the blanket in a way that would support the longer term work of processing my grief.

I also wanted to share this with others. We all experience grief and loss far more frequently than we realize - the loss of a pet, the end of a relationship, missing out on an exciting business opportunity, losing our home and possessions due to fire or flood - we experience tests and challenges all the time.

The work that we need to do in order to grow from the tests we frequently face is hard, and supportive resources can be inaccessible. Not everyone has access to, or can afford, therapy. Not to say that crocheting this blanket can replace therapy provided by a qualified professional! But I've sought to provide practical tips, techniques and scripts, that you can incorporate into your crochet time so that as your fingers create fabric, your mind is given time and space to heal.

This is how my modern, therapeutic crochet blanket was born. I've called it "From grief to grow, a blanket of becoming" and this is how I plan to share it with you all:

• Starting next week, I will publish each month the pattern for a panel (or strip), of the blanket. (I may end up sharing them more frequently than once a month but I don't want to over-promise!)
• Each pattern will include:
  • Written instructions
  • Photos
  • Charted pattern
  • Video tutorials
• In addition, each panel's pattern will also include an exercise or activity which you can incorporate into your crochet practice. These activities are specifically designed to support you in coping with grief or loss
• Each panel's pattern can be purchased on a standalone basis, and will also include ideas for how you could use the fabric in a standalone project
• If you know you want all 10 panel patterns, then you will be able to purchase them as a bundle

I'm looking forward to sharing the first panel pattern with you next week.