Finishing and Unfinishing

In which I share some recent finishes and unraveling..

Nov 22, 2025

I’ve not been doing a ton of crafting lately, just haven’t felt much like it. I do have two finishes, however: a first attempt at embroidering a handkerchief and a shawl to keep myself warm at work.

Handkerchief

My friend gave me a pack of cheap white handkerchiefs last Thanksgiving to stitch on fun patterns and/or snark phrases. This was my first attempt, using a stick and stitch design from Stitched Stories. It turned out…okay. Ha. I’ve since purchased some much higher quality handkerchief to try out other designs, probably sticking with the stick and stitch as it makes it so easy when you can just wash out the pattern paper.

Shawl

I’ve always been a huge fan of Kacey Herlihy’s design and knew I had to make a shawl using her Lost Horse (Ravelry link) pattern immediately. I made the shawl as described until it was wide enough then started doing decreases every other row until it was back to three stitches, making a symmetrical triangle perfect for wrapping around my shoulders. The yarn is the amazing Rosarios 4, a great 100% cotton yarn that’s super soft. This project used a little under three balls and I’ve got 5 or 6 balls of it left to make other things. Lizzy wants something from it and I’d like to make a Spring Blossom romper for a coworker who is expecting.

Ignore the bed-head; was too lazy to fix it before taking photos

Not a true capture of the color but you can see the pattern

Unfinishing

While I’ve been sitting here, listening to a book and the sound of laundry being washed and dryer, I’ve also pulled out two projects I wasn’t going to finish. First was the shawl thing I didn’t have enough white yarn to finish, soon to be made into a Baby Surprise Jacket and then the two-color cowl I’ll re-start later with a simpler pattern.