Kiss My Knits!

Looks like everybody in the community is finishing their Jayne hats. As for me, I’ve only got one more Jayne hat and one dinosaur hat that have to be in their recipients’ hands by the 30th. They’re both half-finished. I’m slightly ahead of schedule! At this rate, the people who are content to get theirs after the premiere may get them before. Yay!

I added a baby hat and swapped a sold scarf with a newer one on http://www.wearwithstyle.com. I’ve actually got a couple more things to add, as well. I’m thinking about revamping the site so it’s not all on the main page – if I keep adding things, I worry people will have to scroll too much. That won’t necessarily be a bad thing, though. Oh, well, it’s cool and it’s serving its function, so any changes can wait. Plus it’s got the cool legs that designed. 🙂

Only seven more knitting days until Serenity!

Courtesy of , looks like bloggers can get into some advance press screenings of Serenity on Sept 27th. Sadly, the showing in my town is at 7:30. It is 15 minutes away. And my daughter usually goes to bed between 7 and 7:15, and pops up a few times before settling down to sleep.

No way we can make it.

Well, these are the sacrifices we make for parenthood. The hubby and I have plans to go on the public premiere on Sept 30th, probably a 9pm show. And that’s fine.

Hey, maybe some of y’all can make it, and if so, more power to you!

I don’t usually share photos that folks send me of themselves in their hats, because it’s in e-mail. But this is on a forum.

Now that’s a happy Browncoat.

http://forum.jungle-fire.com/index.php?topic=82.0

And that’s all, folks! If you’re not in the queue already, I can’t guarantee that you’ll get a Jayne hat by the 30th, in time for the Serenity premiere. I’ve got 12 hats in line, and am averaging about two hats every three days. Well, really it’s more like a hat a day right now, but I feel the need to factor in what I call “hit by a bus” time. I wouldn’t want to guarantee you’d get a hat in time for the premiere, then get hit by a bus and not be able to follow through on the promise.

I’m still glad to take orders, but if you want a hat for the premiere and haven’t already made arrangements to get one, you’re probably out of luck. I can recommend some other good Browncoat knitters, but I hear they’re swamped too.

Don’t worry – you’ll still look cool, just by showing up for the premiere. 🙂

Y’all were right – the gray hat sold first. Go you! I take it to mean there’s a desire for more unisex/masculine stuff. As for me, I made a little purchase – some lip balm with a name I can’t repeat here. Ahem.

Next! I am considering offering some Jayne hat kits, with proceeds going to the American Red Cross for Katrina relief. The kits would include a pom-pom with tail for attaching to finished hat, four stitch markers, enough yarn to make a men’s size large hat and a pattern (exact stitch and row counts for various sizes, a couple of tips on cast-ons and joining colors, etc.). Purchasers would need scissors and needles. The pattern would assume you could knit and purl, and knew what things like “without twisting stitches, join into a circle” mean. I would happily offer technical support via e-mail.

I’m thinking about 10-15 bucks, including shipping (domestic or international would be fine). The pattern would be for non-commercial use only, as my other very similar pattern in this thread is.

I need a test knitter! I’d need you to follow the pattern exactly and tell me of any inaccuracies, confusion, etc. and to tell me how the finished product turns out. I need very honest feedback – my skin is quite thick. Any takers?

The Memorabilia event in Birmingham UK was this past weekend. This was the one I was knitting that big order of 20 for. The hats seem to have been very well received, from the comments I’m seeing. It gives me a huge kick to imagine all the Browncoats on the other side of the pond walking around in their hats. I wish I could have been there, it looks like terrific fun!

http://www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=4579

http://serenity.fotopic.net/c654306.html

Crossposted to and my own journal,

Yes, it’s unattractive to gloat, and yet I confess I did a little victory dance.

Remember my Jayne hat rant about fair prices for fair work? And the guy who wrote me, got quoted $35 and then bid on a $12 hat on eBay?

Well, the hat went up to $25 and he lost the auction. He then wrote me and paypalled me to secure his place on my list.

Yeah, I feel like I win – but I also feel like all of us win. Fair price for quality goods! Yeah!

I get inquiries every day about the Jayne hat, as seen in Firefly. I currently charge $35 including shipping. While the price I’m charging is honestly low considering you’re getting a hand-knitted custom-fit item direct from the designer, it’s still more than some fanboys are willing to pay. More to the point, there are others knitting Jayne hats who don’t value their time as highly as they should and so are pricing theirs lower. C’mon, knitters, your time’s worth more than 25 cents an hour. I’ve made 30 of these hats so far this summer. People WILL pay it if you ask it.

I gave the price and info to a guy yesterday. Today I see he’s bidding on a Jayne hat on eBay that’s going (so far) for $12.50.

I can’t blame the fanboys – if they can get something that looks similar somewhere else for cheaper, naturally that’s what they’re going to do. I wonder if I shot myself in the foot when I posted a pattern for the hat, even if it was sized for a woman’s noggin. I still subscribe to the “information wants to be free” theory, and just trust that people are honest and only using the pattern for their personal use.

Why does it cost so much? Click here to find out.

Behold! 21 Jayne hats, bound for the UK! Well, technically 10 are already over there, it’s just the other 11 that are ready to go. And that’s the end of this order!

That’s 14 large, 3 medium, 3 small, and because I’m super-nice, I’m throwing in 1 extra-small/child size.

Now on to the next project… which is another Jayne hat. And another after that. I’ll be knitting the hat until I die, but fortunately, I enjoy knitting hats.

Gotta remember to make one for myself!

It was a productive long weekend! Not as productive as I thought it’d be, since I wound up having to drive instead of the hubby, and he has this wacky insistence on me not knitting while I drive. Sheesh.

How I spent my Independence Day weekend.