Knitting

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Teddy Bear Knitter Works to Take Business to the Next Level

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mad man knittingTwo years ago, Gregory Patrick was homeless and jobless, living in the woods of south Georgia. He turned his life around, remarkably enough, by knitting teddy bears, and now he wants to go from being a man who can just survive by knitting teddy bears to an inspiring entrepreneur who can help others who have big dreams but no resources.

He set up a campaign on indiegogo to allow him to buy supplies to keep his business going and to give him time to figure out how to make his business bigger than it is right now. With eight days to go as of this writing, he’d raised $3,346 when his goal had been $1,000. That’s such a great testament to the knitting community and how we pull together to help each other (and, I imagine, how we’re all a little touched by the novelty of a redneck who knits bears for a living).

If you’re interested in helping you can click the ling above; donors get thank you gifts including a PDF copy of his book, knitting patterns and recognition on his site. Or visit his blog to learn more and check out the adorable bears.

[Photo via Mad Man Knitting.]

Looking for more Knitting patterns for Teddy Bears? Check it out here.

Comments

  2. Thank you so much for this! This was AWFULLY kind of you and I cannot thank you enough!
    Gregory Patrick

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.