Six months ago, I bought a $30 loom on Amazon. I had no idea that it was going to become one of the things keeping me sane.

Last year, I was hit by a truck in a hit-and-run. My femur was broken, my right foot and ankle were badly injured, and my life changed completely. I have not been able to return to work. I lost a great deal of independence, and I have spent much of the past year dealing with pain, physical limitations, and the question of what my life is supposed to look like now.

Then I started weaving.

For the past seven months, I have woven almost every single day. I bought that little loom because I was curious. I had no idea that I would become this serious about it, or that it would give me something I had been desperately missing since the accident. Weaving gives my days structure. It gives me something to work toward. More than anything, it helps with my pain. When I am deeply focused at the loom, there are stretches of time when my body stops occupying the center of my attention.

My loom broke today, and I am devastated.

I have pushed a $30 beginner loom far beyond what it was built to do. In seven months, I have gone from knowing almost nothing about tapestry weaving to spending most of my waking hours designing and making work. I have completed multiple pieces, developed my own visual language, and started trying to build a serious artistic practice that could eventually help me support myself.

I have clearly reached the point where I need a real loom.

The loom I am trying to buy is a 22-inch Mirrix Zach Loom, a professional tapestry loom that costs $405. With shipping, taxes, and fees, the total comes to $470.86. I am setting the fundraiser goal at $475 so that, if I reach it, I can order the loom and get back to work.

I know $475 may sound like a lot of money for a hobby. Weaving has gone far beyond that in my life. This is the work I am trying to build my future around.

Since the accident, I have not been able to work in the way I did before. I have struggled to get disability support, and money has been extremely tight. I cannot afford to replace the loom myself, especially with the kind of loom I now need. I have spent seven months building skill, momentum, and a body of work. For the first time since the accident, I feel that I have found something I can realistically devote myself to and possibly grow into a source of income.

There is also a more personal truth behind this fundraiser: weaving has become one of the main ways I cope with the life I have now. It occupies my mind. It gives me a reason to get up and begin something every day. It has helped me through pain and through the grief of losing the life I had before the accident.

So losing the loom has hit me hard. I need to get back to work.

Any contribution would help me replace it and continue weaving. Sharing this fundraiser would also mean a great deal to me. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has followed my work, encouraged me, and helped me believe that this could become something real.