Loose Ends: Finishing What Our Loved Ones Started
Peter Gregory, a man who lost his wife, Doris, holds up a knitted sweater that she started. Photo from: Beate Sass
When people don’t live to see their creations. That is when Loose Ends step in.
Created by Jennifer Simonic and Masey Kaplan, the idea first popped up when they supported a friend who had lost her mother. Scouring through her things, they discovered two unfinished blankets. They decided to take it upon themselves to finish what was started.
In September 2022, Loose Ends, a non-profit project, was created. The project was simple but impactful. Knitted creations of loved ones whose conditions deteriorated or passed mid-project are sent to the volunteers (“finishers”) at Loose Ends. These finishers are tasked with finishing these beautiful creations.
This whole process is perfectly described by Kaplan, “When a maker dies mid-project, this tangible, handmade expression of love could get lost, donated or thrown out. Our volunteers’ goals are to finish these projects as intended and give them back to be cherished.”
However, the impacts of this project on the people are indescribable. The project has provided grievers with a “profoundly healing experience”.
Kaplan describes, “That feeling of somebody in their community doing something generous for them just adds an extra layer of love into the whole thing. Some really lovely friendships have been born out of it too.”
One particular story that stuck with Simonic is about a young man named Alfredo. “His younger sister had passed away violently. He came to us with a crocheted leaf and said his sister had wanted to crochet a blanket when she made it,” she says. The team assigned him to a finisher from nearby New Jersey.
Simonic explains, “She was willing to meet with him and design a blanket that best represented his little sister around that one leaf. He picked all the colours, we got the yarn donated and she made this beautiful blanket with motifs on it. The leaf was in the middle.”
Another unforgettable story was about a young girl whose mum passed in a car crash alongside her father and brother. “The woman’s best friend submitted the quilt to be finished so that the girl would be able to wrap herself up in her mother’s creation. It is something we hear a lot: people feel like they are being held or hugged by their loved ones once again,” Kaplan commented.
“When you make something, your DNA is all over it. Every single bit of that yarn goes through your fingers, and so it makes people feel very close to the person they have lost," she says.
The backstory behind the image of this article is rather wholesome. When Peter Gregory lost his wife, Doris, what was left was an unfinished knitted sweater by her. Their daughter, Beate Sass, revealed her mother started this project for her husband in 2011 but unfortunately passed in 2013. Luckily, Loose Ends matched Sass with a finisher named Sita. She managed to finish the sweater before her father’s 99th birthday.
Sass captured this beautiful moment and sent it to Kaplan. “I saw that picture and immediately started to cry. I texted it to Jen and said: ‘This picture says it all.’ It’s what we do this for,” she states. This heart-warming project has seen much success as it now has roughly 17,000 finishers in 60 countries.
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