Featured Store: Pleasant Plushies

Are you looking for somewhere to buy some adorable plushies just in time for the holidays? Of course you are, in which case you should check out Pleasant Plushies, full of geeky-adorable gifts for yourself or others.

You’ll have the added bonus of supporting an independent creator who helped support this blog during the Kickstarter. Rachel has been creating plushies in the amigurumi style since 2012, saddened by the lack of plushies that she was craving. Her creations are adorable and interesting.

Take a look at some that are on sale now:

SO CUTE JIGGLYPUFF

JIGGLYPUFF! ($35 USD)

I really love Pokemon. I might be biased, but this is super.

Omg a tamagotchi

Tamagotchi “Tarakotchi” ($15 USD)

When I was a kid I spent hours playing with my tamagotchi and this makes me all nostalgic.

Oooh it’s No Face

Spirited Away Inspired “No Face” ($25 USD)

A few years ago my girlfriend had me watch Spirited Away and I loved it. This was one of the best characters.

As you can see Rachel is creating a whole bunch of interesting, complex amigurumi that’s perfect for the geek in your life (especially if that geek is you). I could post every one of her creations and show them all off. So cute!

If you want to see more from Rachel head over to her blog, also named Pleasant Plushies.

Thank you again Rachel for your support!

The initial thank-you

For the kindness of strangers and friends alike.

My Kickstarter, if you were not aware, was a resounding success. If you want to learn more about it, click here.

Thank you!

The first of my thanks goes to June, one of the many generous souls around here. Thank you, June. You rock.

Next: Thank you Tanya (or TanRAWR!) who runs the lovely www.yarnya.co.uk. Your next point of call after me should definitely be her. Her banner alone is worth the trip (spoiler: it’s adorable).

Then there is Donald, AKA Hamcat, who is a fellow writer at NerdUnderground.net. Thank you! You rock, but then you already knew that. (If you didn’t know, we also podcast once a week over there.)

Finally (for today) there’s Kelly. Now, I know Kelly in real life and she is fantastic. Funny, smart, kind; everything you could want in a person. Thank you, Kelly. She’d like you to check out The Hunger Site because she’s awesome.

No, that’s not everyone. There are many more thanks to come but the others picked out rewards that gets them their very own post, so I’ll be setting that up for a once-a-week extravaganza starting Wednesday. Oh yes. These are exciting times, folks. I have some wonderful people around me and I can’t wait to share the exciting things they have to offer.

Welp. That Went Well.

Still not entirely sure how it happened, but thirty days have passed and my Kickstarter campaign is funded. Including the pledge I got from an offline friend (I love you C.J.), it totalled $785. SEVEN. HUNDRED. AND EIGHTY. FIVE. DOLLARS.

This blog is not only levelling up, it just beat the goddamn Boss.

It takes a few weeks for everything to process, so there won’t be much news for a while. Just know I’m thankful for all your support – whether you pledged, shared, or just thought happy thoughts. Soon enough the Knitter Nerd podcast will launch with its jaunty new tune (more on that later) and the blog will be upgraded. I’m pretty sure I have enough to figure out getting it onto a different server, but I’m still working that out.

My cousin Jack is writing a short tune for my podcast intro. He’s a musician by trade, recently graduated and already a radio star (he was on BBC Radio 6 a few weeks back). I’m proud of him and pleased he’s doing this, and thanks to you it’s not even a struggle to pay him – even though I would have figured it out if the Kickstarter hadn’t happened, because Jack is awesome.

Everything. Everything is awesome.

If this post is all over the place, I apologise. I’m a bit excited. Back to your regularly scheduled yarniness any day now.

It’s Nearly Over.

The Knitter Nerd Kickstarter ends on Saturday. 

This has been an amazing month. I put up a small goal to light a fire under my butt for this blog, thinking that I could gauge whether it’s worth pushing on, and guys, it was worth it. As you know if you read this blog regularly, I hit my original target in twenty-four hours and proceeded to gape in shock and awe as more people showed their support.

I love all of you. All of you. I am a big old bundle of love. Nerdy, fibre-covered love.

Since it’s nearly done, here’s a last reminder that if you want me to knit you something you can totally do that. I’ll do socks, but if you’re looking for something a little cheaper you can get me to knit you any of these:

From Victoria Ann Baker’s Ravelry pattern Page: Treads, A Tipless Gloves Pattern

From morgankenai’s Ravelry pattern page: TARDIS Beanie

From Robin Barnhill’s R2D2 Can Cosy.

For just $50, and that includes the postage for most places in the world (and the yarn). And you’d be helping me out more than I could say.

You can also get a link to your blog/shop/designs on The Knitter Nerd or an entire post dedicated to your wares. Check out the rewards, there may be something you want.

I’ve already (more than) reached my stretch goal, but I’m not going to add anything else to it. I’m just letting you know the option is still there for me to knit you something. And if you say you came via this post when I contact you maybe you’ll get something a little extra-special in your package when I sent it out!

Also if you want me to make something for someone else (i.e. for a Christmas present) I’m happy to wrap it and send it directly to them instead of you in time for whatever celebration you have, within reason. So let me know. I’m flexible.

If you want to check it out, click here. And don’t worry; this is the last post there’ll be about the Kickstarter until it’s over!

Another Kickstarter Update

It’s ten days until my Kickstarter ends and I couldn’t be happier. I wondered if I would hit the original target of $200; I debated making it less, but that was the minimum I would need for a microphone and an upgrade for my blog. I cringed and set it up, telling myself I wouldn’t lose anything if it didn’t get funded and it would at least tell me whether it’s worth trying to push The Knitter Nerd blog further.

Then twenty-four hours passed and I was 110% funded.

With my head still spinning I put a stretch goal of $600 which would allow me to get a desk for my writing (something I need more than I can say) and would also let me pay my cousin, a talented musician, to do the music for my podcast.

With ten days left, I’m $35 from reaching that. It says $135 on there, but one friend gave me cash because she did not want to use a credit card and I include that since it will go towards it. There are still a few fun rewards left so if you want me to knit you something you’d better get on that; you’ve got ten days left to buy my wares!

You can find the Knitter Nerd Kickstarter over here, and you can find my eternal thanks for all the support right here in this blog. I am overflowing with it. Seriously, I have love hearts for eyes.

As far as I’m concerned this has proven I should keep going with the blog and you’ll be seeing more of me over the next few exciting months, including my first podcast in September. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Gosh. (A Kickstarter Update.)

Yesterday I posted about my Kickstarter to upgrade The Knitter Nerd with the hopes that I might get a donation here and there and eventually hit the $200 by September, which would be a lovely thing just days before my birthday. I could upgrade my blog, buy a decent USB microphone for a podcast, and celebrate heartily.

Then I checked back a few hours later to see it was almost completely funded. Another couple of hours and it was 110% funded in under twenty-four hours.

I’m still in shock.

Since there have been quite a few donations since then I’ve decided to make a stretch goal of $600 which would give me enough to buy a desk for the spare room where I can write and do my podcasts, since right now I lounge in the corner of a not-too-comfortable couch covered in felines. Having a dedicated area to write and record would make a world of difference.

If you still want to help out, check out the rewards here.

You can:

1. Get a thank-you on the blog ($1)
2. Get a temporary link on the blog with your thanks ($5)
3. Feature your store/site on the blog ($10)
4. Get the above plus a knitting-related gift and a card ($20)
5. Get a small knitted gift (like a hat) and all the above ($50)
6. Join me in a Skype-based podcast ($50)
7. Get a pair of socks of your choice ($100)

As it stands, I’m going to buy this microphone, a step up from the one I was planning on originally since I’m already funded for it. Anything past this point is an enormous bonus so I wouldn’t cry if I did not get a single dollar more between now and September, but it’s worth a shot since I know so many generous folk.

For those of you that pledged: thank you. I will contact you about the gifts and such once the Kickstarter closes. I’m already excited for it.

The Knitter Nerd is going places. Thanks for joining me with that.

Help Me Level Up The Knitter Nerd

So! I started a Kickstarter to raise enough dosh to upgrade the blog for a year, and to buy a USB mic for the podcast.

It’s here!

If you feel like pledging even a dollar you have no idea how much that would help. After all, it’s only $200. We could raise that easily with your help. It won’t fully cover the costs, but it will be close enough that I can fund the rest (and I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708681156/help-level-up-the-knitter-nerd/widget/video.html

The Knitter Nerd is my haven. I love this blog. I love writing, I love reading other people’s entries, I love comments and commenting on others. I love the sense of community and affection you find in the knitting blog world, but my blog is stuck in a rut. I can’t design it how I want it and I know there are ads over it which makes me sad. WordPress offers an upgrade to fix all these problems but it is more than I can do right now, hence asking for help.

As for the microphone: you see, my other mic only works on my old laptop which will no longer turn on and I’m sad I don’t get to start it after all this planning. Yet a microphone is out of my budget.

$200 may not seem like much but it is the world to me when it comes to this blog. If you can spare a dollar, I’ll be grateful beyond belief. If you can spare more, check out the page for the rewards you can get. We can even do a podcast together, and you can get a permanent ad on my site.

If you want to support this in ways other than a pledge, sharing this would make the world of difference.

Thank you!

Check it out here.

Update:

Wow. Wow. …wow. As of typing I’m at $260 in pledges from you awesome folk. My mind is blown. Stay tuned for further plans.

Ooh Shiny: Mathematical Knit Scarves

Whilst browsing my lovely interesting-people-filled Twitter feed this morning I noticed that there’s a Kickstarter I can get behind. Take a look at the video to see what it’s all about:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fbz/knityak-custom-mathematical-knit-scarves/widget/video.html

From here

Fascinating, no?

I love seeing the way people combine their passions. It’s why I started this blog back in the day: I wanted to mix my love of geekery and knitting. Seeing someone combine their interest in mathematics and knitting to create something so beautiful makes me happy on the inside.

These are a bit out of my funds right now but please, go check out the Kickstarter campaign and make sure this gets funded! We need more unique ideas in our world.