Loose Ends Helps Finish Unfinished Projects

I’ve been meaning to write about Loose Ends for a while, but they’re getting more attention thanks to a recent story from NPR.

Loose Ends is a group of volunteers that helps to finish projects left behind by people who have died or that the crafter is unable to complete because of age or illness. It was founded by friends and knitters Masey Kaplan and Jen Simonic, who both spent some time in 2022 finishing projects for friends who’d lost their mothers. Looking online for a service that did such work, they didn’t find one, so they started it.

In about 10 months the group has completed more than 600 knitting, crochet, quilting, sewing and other projects.

As you can imagine, knowing how generous crafters can be, there are a lot more people who have volunteered to help with projects than there has been need for helpers at this stage. The founders have been overwhelmed by the response and, as they are still doing all the matchmaking themselves, they’ve formed a board and applied for tax-exempt status in the hope they can raise money to hire staff.

According to the Loose Ends website, they accept most kinds of craft work as long as the project had been started and cannot be completed by the original maker because of illness, disability or death. Exceptions include items that are moldy or have moth holes, or a strong smell of moth balls. (Items that smell of cigarette smoke can be paired with a crafter who doesn’t mind the smell.) They also do not accept long-arm or large hand-quilting projects, though they can do piecing, binding and finishing of small projects like baby blankets or wall hangings.

You can apply to become a finisher on their website and let them know your geographic location, what crafts you do, your skill level and the kinds of projects you like to work on. They do their best to match people who live relatively close together and to give finishers projects that match their skills and interests.

I just love this so much and the idea of all those projects getting finished makes me so happy!

[Photo: Loose Ends]

Next Pattern:

It’s well known (among knitters, anyway) that knitters seem to love chickens as a motif and a subject of our knitting projects. The Emotional Support Chicken and all the other chicken knitting patterns are just the beginning of our devotion to farmyard friends.

For example, there’s Farmer Dennis’ Chicken Hat. This free pattern from Stacy Black is a simple worsted weight beanie sized for adults and decorate with a couple of little rounds of colorwork fences and a flock of chickens strutting around the body of the hat.

You don’t need a lot of any of the colors for the chickens, their facial features or the fences, so this is a great project for using little leftover bits from other projects. The main color for the body of the hat is less than a skein using the yarn suggested, so you might just have everything you need in your house to start stitching up this hat right away.

The colorwork is presented as a chart, with a 16 stitch section that repeats around the body of the hat. All the color changes are shown on the chart but I think it would be easier to knit the whole chicken in the chicken color and add the eye, beak and other features using duplicate stitch when the knitting is done. That way you don’t have to carry those yarns around the whole hat for just a few stitches.

As the name suggests, the original hat was given to a farmer who shared their eggs, but anyone who raises chickens or just has a thing for the fowl is sure to love this cute hat. It wouldn’t be too difficult for someone new to stranded knitting or reading charts to make, either, so if that’s you, give it a try.

The pattern is available for free on Ravelry.

[Photo: Stacy Black]

Knitting Patterns for Little Chicks

Tiny Hens to Knit

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