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.

To All Aspiring Creatives

Someone just posted this to Facebook, and I had to snatch it up. I wish someone had told me this in college, because some days I really could have used the encouragement contained in the message.

Click for full size

It took me a couple of years to hit my stride in mailling. Longer with my graphic design. Sometimes I still make crap. But I work past it to something greater. It takes time and a lot of hard work and dedication. If learning comes easy to you and you're one of those people who catch on quickly and you're used to getting perfect results, don't be dissuaded. Art and creativity of all kinds is messy and personal, and that gap is different for everyone.

Never give up. Keep at it, constantly. Whether you're a writer, mailler, painter, designer, or anything else that takes good taste and a keen eye. Don't quit. Close the gap.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader nw for linking the speech that inspired the poster!

Supporting Local Artists: Jonny Nero

Three months ago, I never thought I would be working so often with other local artists. But there are so many incredible projects going on in Seattle right now that I just can't resist! Business at Knitted Steel is taking a very exciting turn.

Jonny's awesome Facebook photo

Allow me to introduce you to Jonny Nero Action Hero. He's a chiptune rock musician who looks like the Tenth Doctor, and he creates fantastic music with his sidekick Sheep. His main instrument, pictured above, is his yellow Gameboy. His most recent live performances have been at fundraising concerts for GeekGirlCon, and he has a hell of a show coming up next month.

On August 26th, PAX FRIDAY, he will be opening for none other than The Protomen at El Corazon. And it's a free show if you bring your PAX badge. (or $15 online at elcorazonseattle.com)

If you've never heard of him, please check out his music and buy a copy of his album if you like it! And if you REALLY like him, or if you want to guarantee yourself a piece of Action Hero swag at the concert, head over to his Storenvy shop and pre-order a tee shirt or pick out some buttons.

The yellow-on-black Logo tee is my design. The Sheep tee is pretty freakin' cool too. If he sells enough of this first run of shirts, Jonny says he'll later stock his store with Ladies' sizes as well!

~~~

On a related note, many thanks and sincere gratitude to those of you who have funded the indie film project REVERSAL. In just a few short days the total shot up over $2000, and now they are nearly halfway to full funding! If you haven't looked at it already, I urge you to do so.