Kickstarter

Greetings!

Alright, so I didn't update a week after that last one. Terrible. To bring you up to speed:
The winner of the stretch bracelet naming thing was "Stretchmaille." Simple, functional, easy to say. Yay!

Punk Rock Flea Market is still in the works. I have been building displays and mailling LOTS of stock for this show, even though it's a one-day affair. I am sticking to less expensive items, though I will have some flashy pieces to show off as well. My boothmate is going to be the amazingly talented Sylvia Armitstead, aka Saberlin, with her beautiful art prints. It should be a good day.

PAX East is over, and PAX Prime is less than 100 days away. You know what that means: Time to order lanyards. They can be found at my Storenvy shop; I'll be updating the listings to include a guaranteed cutoff date for PAX, as well as options for hand delivery at the show (free shipping!).

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Now, the big topic of this post is my other project. Outside of work, maille, and life, my board game is very quickly coming to life.

As of this morning at 3:45am PST, Disaster Looms! is fully funded thanks to the hundreds of backers who put their faith and funds in our creativity. But my team and I are not done yet! We want to make the game even more awesome. Please, spread the word (and the link to our Kickstarter page) and help us hit the $40k mark.

For those unfamiliar with Kickstarter, you might be saying "But it's already funded. Why are you begging for more money?"

The truth is not greed or profit, but truly that we want to make the game amazing AND keep the savings going through the rest of the fundraiser. If you pledge $50 right now, you'll not only be helping us reach our next goal, you will also receive a copy of the game for less than retail value. For $65 you'll get the game plus exclusive bonuses that we will never print again. That's a hell of a value, and you're helping a group of young, enthusiastic people break into the board game industry and prove that small businesses can produce fantastic things. The extra money we earn from Kickstarter will be going straight into the game.

If you have any interest in board games, family nights, occasional evenings away from the TV and console, or even space exploration: take a look at this game. With your help it can become a 6-player experience, expanding the Galaxy with its perils and profits along the way.

Once again, a HUGE thank you to all of the folks who have backed us so far. I joined this project in October, and until now it has not felt quite so real. If anyone wants to see the game up close, two of my teammates will have a demo prototype copy at ORIGINS this week in Columbus, OH. My partners Eric and Wombat will be at Booth #853. Go say hi and pick up a complimentary FRIDGE MAGNET. Woo!

Equinox

Good morrow everyone! I hope Winter treated you all well. Spring is here at last. The days are getting brighter and longer, which of course means more sunlight makes its way into my home. It also means that I can see the layer of dust... Eep. Time to clean.

Storenvy
Knitted Steel came back to 2012 with raging success. With the help of Storenvy, the lanyard orders this year were easier, faster, and more organized than ever. As far as I know, the USPS didn't lose a single one in transit (if yours hasn't arrived, email me!) and I have a perfect record of every order. Storenvy has my business for a long time to come. So long, Etsy.

When you order a bracelet, choose two colors:
The Aluminum color, and the Rubber color.

Stretch Bracelets
Coming soon to my shop is my stretch bracelets! Formerly known as pirate bands, I'd like to rename them. They no longer fit the reasons behind calling them "Pirate Bands" - back in college I found something nearly identical online called Ninja Bracelets and I, well, borrowed the idea - and "Stretch Bracelets" is informative yet boring.

So, my trusty creative readers, what would you call them? Post a comment here with your ideas, and I'll reward the best name with two custom bracelets. If multiple people have the same idea, it's first post-first served. Be sure to include your email so I can contact you. I'll wait until Saturday to choose. Come on guys, show me what you can come up with!

Punk Rock Flea Market
I'm doing a show! On June 23rd, the Punk Rock Flea Market is appearing for one day in Belltown. I'll put full details in a post closer to the event, but I can tell you right now that it's a full day of music, drinks, and all kinds of awesome stuff for sale. Admission is $1 that goes to charity. I will be featuring my bracelets, which I make custom for you in 10 minutes for $10. I'll also have some necklaces, earrings and keychains to show off. If there's anything in particular that you'd like to see at my table, let me know. I love hearing your suggestions.

Happy Spring, everyone. To those attending PAX East, have a wonderful time. If you're going to Emerald City ComiCon, say hi if you see me! I'll either be dressed as Tasha Yar or Starbuck.

Extended Deadline!

Because I like you guys so much, and because I am knitting these things together LIKE LIGHTNING, I am officially extending my deadline.

If you'd like to guarantee your lanyard arriving in time for PAX East or Emerald City ComiCon, order by February 20th.

Do it now! You know you want toooooo.

Happy New Year! Who Wants a Lanyard?

Knitted Steel is back in action. After a long-overdue vacation from my various jobs, I am refreshed and ready for 2012. And look at what's coming up! Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle, followed by PAX East in Boston. I will not be able to attend PAX East, however I will still gladly make and ship lanyards to folks in time for the show.

This year, I'm doing things differently.

This year, I have a store.

Rather than trying to keep track of orders through this blog, email, two forums and verbal contracts, I am finally doing this in a more organized fashion; no spam filter will lose your order.

For the two upcoming shows I will be making 50 lanyards, maximum. In order to guarantee your lanyard arriving in time, please get your order in by Wednesday, February 15th. Orders will close either March 1st, or whenever 50 orders are taken. Currently available in the store are two options: A custom 2-color lanyard, or the "Enforcer Blend." (Enforcers, check the forum for extra information.)

I will be adding a 3rd option this evening - custom 3-color lanyards. This option will be the same price as the Enforcer Blend - that is, $5 more than 2 colors.

None of these options include the choice of different metals. So here's the deal:
Super special custom order lanyards will still be done on a case by case basis. It is dependent mostly upon the availability of the materials. I buy all of my rings from The Ring Lord. If something there catches your attention, email me (jules @ knittedsteel . net) and I will respond as soon as possible. I will work with anything except Anodized Titanium. These orders must be received by February 15th or will be subject to a rush fee.

I think that's everything. If you have any questions, please email me: jules @ knittedsteel . net and in the subject line type "LANYARD QUESTION."

Happy PAXing!

Closing Temporarily

Greetings all! Long time no see.

I've been trying to juggle too many things lately and after some serious thinking, I decided that this is currently my lowest priority. I love mailling and blogging about it, but I need to focus on other stuff. Namely my career as a designer, and some upcoming personal events.

I'm closing Knitted Steel for a while. The shops (Etsy, Storenvy) are still open, but I won't take custom orders and I won't be restocking. KS will hopefully return to full glory on January 10th, maybe with a little cosmetic work.

I will start taking limited lanyard orders in January for the coming convention year.

Cheers all, and see you in 2012!

Wrapping Up PAX (in a big shiny bow)

Photo Courtesy CliffNordman.com

Wow. WOW. What. a. show.

Thank you all so much for such a wonderful weekend. This one will definitely go down in the memory books (aka this blog) as one of the best overall PAXes I've attended. As I write this I work my way through a stack of music including The Protomen, MC Frontalot, Supercommuter and the amazing Jonny Nero Action Hero. I'm also working my way through bottles of allergy meds and vitamins, because I may have fallen victim to the ConSARS again this year. OH DANG.

I also want to thank everyone not only for buying my lanyards - you are all awesome! - but also to thank  you all for being my walking advertisements. All weekend I was barraged by total strangers asking me about my wares, and I KNOW that it's not because of this little blog. Now I'm approaching 10,000 views and I am blown away! Really, thank you.

Now that the show has ended, it's time to turn my sights onto other things. I am still taking maille orders and filling my store, of course, but in the meantime my focus will finally be on my online presence. This blog could definitely use a face lift, and now that I own knittedsteel.com (woohoo!) as well as .net, I feel like I need my own site beyond Blogger and Storenvy. So let the adventure begin.

I'm already making lists and doodles of things I want to include on the site, including a section dedicated to building custom lanyards and another for pirate bands. I'll also mod my Storenvy shop to fit the theme of my site, which will hopefully link directly.

Oh man guys, Protomen's The Fall is freaking epic.

ANYHOO. If there is anything you would like to see on my new site, please drop a comment here and let me know. I'd love to hear your opinion since I am building it for you, after all. It's been a while since I worked with web code so bear with me as I work through the bumps and hiccups. There'll be some beta testing for sure, and it will be a fairly simple site. When it's all done and built and pretty, hopefully it will make the bi-annual PAX lanyard ordering way smoother and easier for everyone.

Speaking of ordering, my summer blackout is over! If you would like to custom order something, please email me. Keep in mind that custom orders may take up to 2 months if I don't have the materials on hand. If you're interested in buying multiple lanyards (some little birds told me there are expo companies interested? YES PLEASE!) it will likely take me longer than that, but I guarantee the wait will be worth it!

Cheers everyone! See you at Prime 2012!

PAX Prime Lanyard Delivery!

Huzzah! Last night I learned my Enforcing schedule for PAX Prime, which means I can plan the rest of my show hours. Let's start with YOU folks. Please read this entire post carefully.

If you have not yet paid for your lanyard, please do so. Either send via paypal (email listed below) before the show, or bring cash with you. Exact change is ideal.


I will be distributing lanyards before my shift begins each day.
You can find me on Level 2 at a table in front of Juice It (listed on the official PAX map), from 9am to 9:50am.

If you can't make it to the morning pickup time, email me ASAP to set up special arrangements - jules @ knittedsteel . net - I'm happy to accommodate. I will do my best to keep up with Twitter, but I have no idea what kind of WiFi signal is available at the WSCC.

FRIDAY NIGHT: I will be at the Protomen concert, helping JonnyNero with his tee shirt and CD sales. He is awesome enough to allow me some table space as well. If you're going to El Corazon and don't have your lanyard yet, stop by and pick yours up. I will likely entice you into buying some of Jonny's merch, too. :)

[ENFORCERS]: I will be at setup for a few hours on Thursday morning, likely folding shirts on the 4th floor. I hope to arrive at 11, and I will stay as late as 2pm. You can also ask me anytime during the show in Enforcerland.


Friday thru Sunday, 10am-2pm, I will be at the PA Merch Booth outside the main Queue Room. Please read this extra carefully: DO NOT COME TO THE MERCH BOOTH FOR YOUR LANYARD. When I am selling Merch, I am on shift as a volunteer for Penny Arcade, Inc. and NOT representing my own business. I will not have the lanyards with me and I will not accept payment for them during those hours. Do not ask anyone else at the Merch booth about my lanyards as they have nothing to do with Knitted Steel. The Merch booth is for Penny Arcade merchandise only! If you want to catch me as I leave my shift, that's absolutely fine. I'm 6ft tall with short blonde hair, you can't miss me.

You must claim your lanyard by 2:30pm Sunday. If your lanyard is unclaimed and unpaid at that time, it will be sold to whomever wants it at the current retail price. For those going to the Post PAX Party at Jillian's, I will once again be manning JonnyNero's table and I will sell any extra, unpaid lanyards I possess.