I sometimes ponder about all the unfinished knitting and other projects I will leave behind upon my passing…
So, when someone‘s mother passed in the community before she could finish a sweater she was working on, I very readily volunteered to finish it.
What I was given:

1. Lots of red Acrylic yarn.
2. The finished front of a sweater
3. The finished back of the sweater up to the armholes.
4. The person’s arm measurements ( 21“ from wrist to underarm).

I quite easily determined that his is a modified dropped shoulder style and consulted Ann Budd‘s book for some guidance. The number of stitches and gauge didn’t quite fit into any of sizes provided by her, but I could still use it as guideline.
Started in October and determined to finish this before Christmas.

Checking the fit: I used a whip stitch to seam everything and tried it on my 6ft 4inch husband and it’s big even on him, but not grossly big. Thinking this should be fine. After all the size was determined by the deceased who started the project.

11.30. shoulders and one sideseam ( body and sleeve) done, one more sideseam to do, then weave in ends, wash and block.

12.20. This is the feedback I received from the college chaplain who runs a student’s knitting group and who had connected with me after a colleague’s mother passed away. It brought me so much joy!

“Dear Doris,

I took the beautiful red sweater that you finished for Michael Nicolas and gave it to him this afternoon. He immediately started to cry and it was such a beautiful and emotional moment that even Grace and I were a bit teary. Michael never thought that he would see this sweater finished and now that it is done he has some closure with his mother’s death. He is going to give the sweater to his niece for Christmas so that she will have one last gift from her grandmother.

You gave an amazing gift to Michael and he was so appreciative of it. Bless you for all you did for this wonderful man and his family. You are truly one of God’s saints!

I hope that you have a lovely Christmas and that the New Year brings you much peace and joy.

Mary Grace+”