I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Loose Ends Project, and I’m going to tell you about it—both because it was a wonderful experience and because I suspect a few of you might wish to participate yourselves.
The Loose Ends Project “aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity by matching volunteer handwork finishers with projects left undone due to death, illness, or disability.” I learned about it a few years ago through a flyer posted at my local library. Check out their website for more information and to view some of the amazing projects. Since its inception in May 2023, the Loose Ends Project has amassed over 37,000 registered finishers from 85 countries, over 200,000 crafting hours volunteered, and over 5,500 projects finished or in progress.
There is something truly special about handmade work. I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, but the amount of time, thought, and love that go into making a handmade piece are unlike anything else. It’s a kind of magic. I’ve always been fascinated by unfinished projects (I did kind of write a whole novel about it) and the thought of a fiber artist’s work being left undone makes me sad for them…and for their loved ones who might not know how to finish the project. I treasure the blankets, dolls, and clothing that my loved ones have knitted and crocheted for me. It’s a beautiful idea to finish someone’s final project as a way to bring healing to their family.
I signed up right away, but it took several years to get a match. Last month (April 2026), I received an email telling me I had been matched with a project. The project coordinator, Angelica, provided me with details so I could evaluate whether or not I had the necessary time, skills, and interest. I replied to confirm that yes, I was interested, and she put me in contact with the person who had submitted the project. Ann had submitted her friend Linda’s unfinished crochet corgi to the Loose Ends Project. Ann told me that “not only did [Linda] fill her room with projects, but she also had a storage space with crafting supplies. I was asked to help donate and downsize her things after her passing, which included several finished knit dog projects.”
Ann shipped the project to me along with a bag of stuffing. I opened the box and got to work. Linda had completed all the pieces of the corgi and neatly tied them together in pairs—front legs, back legs, ears. The head and body involved some intricate colorwork and it was obvious the care Linda had put into every piece. My job would be to sew them together. I was nervous, because sewing together amigurumi is the hardest part of the process for me and I wanted to do it justice. But I knew it would be okay if I just got started and tried my best.
First I needed to determine what the corgi was supposed to look like when it was sewn together. There are many different styles of amigurumi—some realistic, some cartoonish—and the finished look would affect how I stuffed and assembled it. I quickly determined that the limbs were too long for the corgi to be standing on all fours, so it must be sitting up. I went to Ravelry and looked through several dozen crochet corgi patterns until I found one that matched the colorwork. It was Honey the Corgi from Edward’s Menagerie: Dogs by Kerry Lord. I’ve always liked the Edward’s Menagerie designs but have never gotten around to making one myself, so this was a fun surprise for me. Referencing the photos, I stuffed and sewed the corgi. Amigurumi takes a lot of stuffing, so I used every bit of the stuffing Ann sent me and dipped into my stash for the rest.
As I worked, I thought about Linda crocheting the pieces of the corgi. You can tell a lot about a person from the way they crochet. She crocheted right-handed, like me, but more loosely. She could follow a challenging pattern (colorwork in amigurumi is no joke). She started pieces with a chain rather than a magic ring. I wondered if she was making this corgi for somebody and who that person might be. I learned from Ann that Linda was very talented at many crafts—knitting, crochet, quilting, and weaving—and her talent was evident in her work.
Some finishers opt to mark the final stitch of the original creator’s work before they take up the project. I thought that was a lovely idea. Linda used two small scraps of red and blue yarn as stitch markers, and I tied them onto the corgi’s ears as little decorative ribbons. The corgi turned out quite large. Then I shipped the corgi back to Ann, who was just as happy as me about the final result. The whole endeavor took about four hours from my initial research to putting the box in the mail.
It was an honor to finish Linda’s corgi for her, and I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in something so meaningful—to Ann for her trust, to Angelica and the Loose Ends Project for facilitating, and to Linda for making beautiful things. I hope to help with more projects in the future, and I encourage you to read more about their work and consider volunteering if it speaks to you as it did to me. In all my years of crochet, nothing has come close to the fulfillment of helping to bring Linda’s corgi into the world.