Pre-order your T-Shirt Today

T-Shirts!

I mentioned previously that the t-shirts were being ordered. They are at the printers right now, in Iowa, busily being turned into awesome t-shirts, but you can pre-order them in our brand new online store!

Please note: the store is brand spanking new, so if you stumble on a bug or have trouble checking out or anything, please don’t scream! Just hop over to our Contact form and let us know so we can get the virtual Raid can out!

We had to play with the color quite a bit to get them to be printable, but they’re definitely on their way. They won’t be here in time for you to get one for Easter. But they will be here in time for you to wear one to Stitches South or Maryland Sheep and Wool.

Here’s what the t-shirt artwork looks like:

T-Shirts.jpg

That’s on a white t-shirt, centered on the front, and in a pretty big size. There’s nothing on the back of the shirts. Get a sharpie and have your friends and knitterly pals sign it or write their superhero names on it!

And here’s what the post cards, which we’re going to offer in the store in packs of 6, look like:

PostcardPacks.jpg

The differences are subtle, but there. Personally, i think they both work well for their mediums– the brighter colors for the t-shirts, and the more varied colors on the cards.

Eco-Choices: Saving the World a Little Bit at a Time

At the Handknit Heroes shipping office, we have, from day 1, wrapped everything in plastic. The shop orders are shrink wrapped. The subscriber copies are in plastic archive-quality comic book bags. Why? Well, probably because we launched in January, the rainiest month in Santa Cruz, where the shipping office is. There’s no guarantee that your package will get to you without a few rain drops, but we do our best to make sure the comic is protected.

See, the shipping team– they’re not knitters, but they care a lot about the products that go out the door. Dave is an awesome comic book fan who has all his Marvel Zombie comics displayed on the walls of the office, so he steered the “how would a comic book fan want their copy to arrive” discussion.

In the shop orders, we shrink wrap because doing so prevents the comics from sliding around and getting damaged, so that’s a no-brainer.

But all that plastic… I had to think long and hard about whether or not it was necessary when we sell t-shirts, or kits, or post cards, either through the mail or when we do shows. I mean, t-shirts might get damp in transit, but hopefully, they’ll dry once you unpack them. And when I take them to a show, I want people to be able to touch them and see them in their glory. And what about when I’m at a show and someone buys a bunch of t-shirts and kits and says “do you have a bag?” I mean, some people don’t carry cloth bags– or they already filled theirs with yarn and needles and spindles and stuff!

I worry about all those plastic bags, too. How much plastic can we really tolerate on this planet? As a consumer, I use plastic all the time, and my plastic grocery bags are my garbage bags for all our household trash, so at least I’m re-using them. But as a vendor, the impact of that has the potential to be much greater.

I did some searching (both soul and Internet) and made some choices. Our kits (coming soon!) and postcards will be packaged in see-through biodegradable plastic bags. We won’t wrap t-shirts in plastic unless it becomes necessary for delivery reasons. And when I go to knitting shows, I’m going to hope everyone brings their own bag, but if they don’t, I have biodegradable corn-based shopping bags for those who need one. These bags are probably 2 to 3 times more expensive than their planet-destroying alternatives, but I genuinely believe that, if I want to write “Knitters Save the World” on every comic book that I sign, I better stand by those words.

Kits? Did you say Kits?

Yes, it’s always been my intention that the non-beginner patterns should be available as separate bonus patterns or kits, and boy, do we have a great one for our first kit, let me tell you. Well, don’t let me tell you. I can’t tell you– not yet. But soon, my friends. Very soon, you will be able to buy a really awesome, incredibly fun kit from our shop. In fact, it should be ready just before Issue #2 ships out the door!

Shout out

Lion Brand gave us a great little shout out on their blog this week. Hooray!