A Life Turned Around by Knitting

Knitting for those of us so lucky is a hobby, a habit, something done with the extra time and money we have floating around. And we lucky souls seem to dominate all the coverage knitting gets. We all look well fed, reasonably well adjusted and content to just have needles and yarn in our hands.

That's why it can be jarring to have a story about how knitting turned around someone's life. The person I am about to write about is Gregory Patrick.

Gregory Patrick (all photos in this post attributed to him)

In 2010 Patrick found himself without a job, living in a woods penniless. A friend reminded him he could knit and with the support of family members he began creating little teddy bears like the ones pictured below. He'd knit a bear from start to finish in about five hours and sold them on Etsy. To his amazement the bears would sell within hours of being listed. In two years his knitting skills helped him earn enough to afford an apartment.

Since then Patrick has written a few books and a blog called Mad Man Knitting where one follows his journey. The blog offers helpful videos about how to embroider those cute bear faces. It is now from the blog site and on Ravelry Patrick sells his already knit bears, tigers and bunnies or if you like, the patterns to make them.

The Saving Bear

Using simple, acrylic yarn and awesome knitting and embroidery skills, Gregory Patrick was able to get back on his feet. A story like that can truly warm the heart of even the most pampered of knitters.

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