Audrey Mahlman, pictured with her daughter, Olive (seated at left), and her friends in Mahlman’s crocheted hats. Following in her mom’s footsteps, Olive sells homemade candles and donates the proceeds to pediatric-cancer charities.
By Michaela Cavallaro
Photos by Michael D. Wilson
From our January 2025 issue
In the evenings, Audrey Mahlman can be found on the sectional in her York living room with her 12-year-old daughter, Olive, and a handful of bins filled with crochet projects. Fatigued by her ongoing recovery from treatment for a brain tumor, Olive needs more downtime than the average middle schooler. Mahlman will put on an episode of Modern Family or Superstore, then pull out a large crochet hook and some squishy yarn and set to work on her signature hats — modern, monochrome designs, often with faux-fur pom-poms, for kids and adults — as well as nubby scarves, blankets, and bags.
When Mahlman was a child, her grandmother taught her to use a hooked needle to make crocheting’s familiar looped stitches. In 2017, seeking an alternative to traditional open-weave crochet work, she began experimenting with tightly stitched styles that approximate ribbed, cabled, and herringbone patterns on knitwear. “I don’t love the way crocheting looks,” Mahlman says. “I like knitting, but I can’t knit — I’m not patient enough, and it’s too slow.” She crocheted a couple of hats using modified patterns she found online, then started developing her own designs, opting for thick yarns that enable her to produce garments quickly and non-scratchy synthetics over wool.
At the time, Mahlman needed a reason to keep her hands busy. When Olive was five years old, she became very ill with what turned out to be a rare endocrine disease caused by a cancerous brain tumor. Mahlman, who works part-time as a vet tech, spent hours managing medical appointments while caring for Olive and her older sister, Madi. During the ensuing surgeries, rounds of chemotherapy, and ICU stays to address complications, Mahlman crocheted nonstop. “I never had time to just get on my phone or watch a TV show, because I needed to be able to hear her and make sure she was okay,” she says. “So I was crocheting.”
When Olive needed to go to Boston for radiation therapy, the family moved into an apartment managed by Christopher’s Haven, a nonprofit that provides pediatric cancer patients and their families with low-cost furnished living quarters, home-cooked meals in a communal rec space, and access to summer camps and other kid-friendly activities. “It just changed the whole experience,” Mahlman says. “It really meant a lot to the girls and me.”
Olive finished radiation in June 2019, and she remains in good health. That fall, Mahlman posted a few dozen crocheted hats for sale on Facebook, noting that she would donate the proceeds to Christopher’s Haven. They all sold, and Mahlman sent $1,500 to the program. Encouraged by a friend to continue her efforts, Mahlman launched her crochet business, Healing Loops. Now, she donates at least 20 percent of the proceeds from each sale of her hats, scarves, blankets, and totes to Christopher’s Haven. “People were so helpful with Olive,” Mahlman says. “I really wanted to pay it forward, and this is my way.”
Audrey Mahlman’s work ($21 and up) is for sale at healingloops.com.
