Kickstarter

In the summer of 2010 I published a memoir about how knitting had consumed me and became a tool for escapism during an awfully difficult time. "Mad Man Knitting-or-The Waiter and the Fly," was about dealing with death by wrapping myself in the loss thought found in knitting. Shortly after the book's release I began to lose everything. I had become financially wrecked and faced nowhere to go. I lost my money, then my home, then my hope.

My grandfather had a piece of property 20 miles out in the woods from the nearest town; upon his death two years prior, it had remained empty and abandoned. Facing the option of living on the streets I had no choice but to go live there...with no car, no money, and limited food.

Once I was there I had to find someway to survive, some method of employment, a way to feed myself. With a single set of knitting needles and a ball of yarn my mother gave me, I found myself knitting teddy bears. There I was dirty jeaned, soiled ballcap and cowboy boots....knitting teddy bears.

I want to write and publish a sequal to "Mad Man Knitting," called "Will Knit for Food" about that six month period in the woods; how I got there, how I learned to eat with only a crockpot and a microwave to cook with, how the teddy bear just showed up on my knitting needles, and what I learned about self sufficiency and survival, relying on my craft to feed my stomach and my soul. I think it is a story that many could identify with.

My teddy bears have been doing steadily well selling on Etsy. 74 sold since February. However, its still very hand to mouth. I was able to raise a little money to move back into civilization, but I'm still not out of the woods (metaphorically speaking). In April I was offered a small garage to stay in while I got on my feet, but that time is coming to a close very soon. I will have to move out. I plan to use the funds to complete the book, publish it, and find a reasonable place to live. I need to be able to rest on my own pillow at the end of a day of knitting and writing. I need to be able to eat without fear, push my soul into the darker corners of those six months in the woods that I often wish to forget, without fear of surfacing to the reality that only the location has changed.

To be truthful? I'm tired of being homeless, and want simply to finish this book, find a place to live, move forward into a more fruitful time in my life.

Throughout July I will continue to knit my teddy bears for income and find hopefully find another place to temporarily sleep at night. Once the funds have been acquired, I can begin publishing and promoting "Will Knit For Food," find a small apartment and have the book ready for print by 1 October 2011. (After all, Autumn is the start of knitting madness, and all things around the subject are quickly hunted down).

My very heart felt thanks to anyone and everyone who supports a simple guy who wants to write a book about knitting teddy bears in the woods...and how it saved his life.

Gregory Patrick