A tiny package from Colorado renewed Susan Cottrell’s faith in humanity.

The London, Ont., woman was surprised and deeply moved last Friday when the Star delivered her the parcel, containing a handmade dark-green shawl with leaf patterns and studded with copper beads.

Wrapped inside the lime-green tissue paper was not just a piece of clothing, but also the thoughtfulness of a complete stranger named Katrina King, of Fort Collins, Co.

In a handwritten note accompanying the gift, King wrote that she had read via Facebook the Star’s Oct. 12 piece about Cottrell losing a lace shawl she had knit to keep calm while her husband teetered between life and death as he underwent double-lung transplant surgery.

The shawl vanished from Toronto General Hospital in August.

“The first thought I had was, ‘She needs a shawl for her niece’s wedding,’” said the note, which Cottrell read aloud, sometimes pausing.

King’s shawl was first sent to the Star, and the newspaper brought it to Cottrell at eweKnit on Markham St., where she teaches a class once a week. She immediately replaced the black shawl she was wearing with King’s creation.

“It’s gorgeous. How very, very thoughtful,” said Cottrell. “You can only appreciate the kind of work it takes to make this when you’ve done it yourself. I would give her such a big hug.”

Like Cottrell, it’s clear that King also takes refuge in her knitting bag when going through tough times, which include watching her father recover from a heart attack in the intensive care unit and staying by her daughter’s side as she underwent tonsil surgery.

“I’m sorry that your beautiful shawl has disappeared,” wrote King. “Non-crafters just see an object … and while it’s pretty to them, unless they know a crafter intimately, it doesn’t have much value.”

Despite her best efforts to find the shawl that took her dozens of hours to produce, which included placing flyers around the hospital, Cottrell came up empty.

The shawl, which had shades of blue and turquoise and 1,500 beads, was left in a Ziploc bag overnight on a windowsill in the hospital room of Cottrell’s husband of eight years, Carl Johnston.

When she returned the next day, it was gone.

“I’ve decided the shawl is now gone somewhere else. I’ve pretty much accepted that fact,” she said. “Life is far too important to dwell on things like that.”

She said she is now focused on her husband’s recovery. After months spent between hospitals in London and Toronto, Johnston was sent home about two weeks ago. He’s finally regaining some strength, said Cottrell. The couple now faces a long road to rehabilitation.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I cooked a meal for the two of us, the first time I’ve done that in six months,” said Cottrell, laughing, while still clutching her new shawl.

“It’s so beautiful. So, so beautiful.”