Calling Geek Crafters: We Want To Interview Joss Whedon and We Need Your Help!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 20 July 2008 - 5:37pm. Categorized As:

Kids, CrochetMe.com—nay, the entire online crafts community—needs your help with something that could be so much fun, I can't even find words for it. We need you to help us get Joss Whedon's attention.

Who's Joss Whedon? We know many of you already know, because you've chatted here about your love for his work, like the TV shows he created: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. And the movie Serenity. And the Astonishing X-Men comics and the Buffy comics, too.

And it's possible that this week you watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (and if you haven't yet, you should; it's free for a limited time!). And maybe you read Whedonesque, the massive and wonderful site about all the people and projects remotely related to Joss Whedon's work.

See, Joss Whedon is a wicked creative guy, and he entertains us. And last week recently, in a tongue-in-cheek response to an interview question on the Wired blog, he practically begged for a crochet publication to interview him*. And CrochetMe.com simply must be that pub. Why? A bulleted list will tell you:

  • Just the thought of this makes me giggle. And as we all should know by now, absurdity is a big and special part of the internets.
  • He's trying something new on the internet with Dr. Horrible, and we love trying new things on the internet, too. If we knew people like Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, we'd want to do fun things like crochet with them, too.
  • Tons of crafty types are geeks who love to combine crafts with their geekiness. And tons are geeks who never thought to combine their loves. And some aren't geeks at all, but would be thoroughly entertained by an interview with Joss, too.
  • Holy crap, have you seen Geek Central Station?
  • There are hundreds of crocheted or knitted Jayne hats posted on Ravelry, alone.
  • Speaking of Ravelry, there are over 900 members in a group on there that's devoted just to Whedon's work.
  • Loads of crafters don't have any idea who Joss Whedon is and have never known his work. We can't just sit around and not seize this speck of an opportunity to try to remedy that.

Ok, enough bullets; this is a peaceful blog. We're revisiting our grassroots... roots... here, and asking the whole community to help us. If we all play together, we can have a load of fun. Here's what you can do (I lied about the bullets; at least these have numbers):

  1. Post a comment below and include in it a photo or a link to something Whedon-related that you have crafted or bought from someone who made it by hand. This post can serve as evidence of the legion crafty Whedon fans.
  2. Blog about this and link back here; post about this on the crafty boards you frequent.
  3. Speak up. Thousands of you read this blog. Some of you must know someone who might know someone who can help us get a hold of someone who can tell Joss Whedon how much fun it would be to spend a few minutes with us, even over email.
  4. Got a Whedonesque membership or know someone who does? Let them know what we're up to! Kiba posted about us!
  5. Going to Comic Con later this week tomorrow? Put aside your timidity and walk right up and ask him if he'll talk or email with us. There's no shame in that. Make yourself a Jayne hat to wear just for the occasion!
  6. Got ideas for what else we can do? We're all ears.

    7. ETA three bullets (21 July):

  7. Know someone who's made or bought some Whedoncraft? Phone them up or email them or Twitter them or otherwise nag them till they post about it here!
  8. Got some contacts at a big blog somewhere? Or maybe you just like being an enthusiastic anonymous tipper? Let those big-blog writers know! There's enough fun in this to spread it all over the internets, from the crafts world to the tech world to the geek world, and beyond.
  9. Remember: Just like crafty people wear many hats and can be found all over the internets due to their other interests both professional and recreational (how come there are so many crafters? Because we're doctors and teachers and lawyers and scientists and writers...), Whedon fans are everywhere, too! That means pretty much any place you hang out online is a good place to post about this (you know, within reason).

    10. ETA two bullets (23 July):

  10. Digg this!
  11. Two words stuck together in one: YouTube.

    12. ETA one bullet (28 July):

  12. Crochet your own Jayne Hat (new pattern!) and post about it here.

I'll start with a pic of the Jayne doll I bought myself from the aforementioned Geek Central Station for my birthday a few weeks ago. (For those not in the know, Jayne was a character in the short-lived series Firefly.) Your turn!

Cleo & Jayne Amigurumi = Defenders of the Yard

*Here's what Joss said when asked about the buzz around Dr. Horrible: "Fact is, there's been some buzz, but it hasn't reached the places it would normally. Where's our write-up in Crocheting Monthly? (I did a very sexy shoot for that one.)"

ETA (20 July): Um, right. If you'd like to contact me directly (like, say, if you're Joss Whedon. Or his assistant. Or if you have a tip but you don't want to join CrochetMe.com just to post it here), please start with kimATcrochetme.com.

ETA (29 July): The aforementioned Kiba has started an entire blog of Whedoncraft. Do peruse at your leisure.


I'll do a photo shoot of me wearing my River vest (made by me, designed by dragoncrafter!) tomorrow, but here are some shots of me wearing it at the actual Can't Stop the Serenity Event in Raleigh, NC:
From the front -
From the side -
From the back -

And I'm the (extraordinarily ridiculous) last one to wish him a happy birthday in this video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VNfhb-fIXCw

Submitted by Kiba on 20 July 2008 - 7:18pm.

firefly, pug
And I'm in the firefly swap on Ravelry.... And my blog links to Dr. Horrible....
LOVE JOSS's Stuff!
http://crochetashevillediva.blogspot.com/

Submitted by puggerhugger on 12 August 2008 - 7:48pm.

I made a Cunning Hat keychain for a friend who mentioned that he was in fact, hatless ;)

I think it would be AWESOME of Joss was interviewed at Crochet Me!

Submitted by Spookygirl on 20 July 2008 - 8:00pm.

Come on Joss Whedon! I think he HAS to do an interview with crochetme. I love DR. HORRIBLES. That was a good time. Dr. Horribles could use a crochet hat, no?

Submitted by carolbrowne on 20 July 2008 - 9:17pm.

You're killing me here, Kim.

I call dibs on the knit-interview when you're done with him, and not just because I want to knit the man a sweater.

Shannon Okey
knitgrrl.com | stitchcleveland.com

Submitted by Shannon Okey on 21 July 2008 - 12:31am.

Righto. I posted a photo of the Joss sweater chart-in-progress here on knitgrrl. See below.

Spike and Giles (the cats) are giving me funny looks for taking pictures of crinkly paper at this time of night/morning.

Submitted by Shannon Okey on 21 July 2008 - 1:10am.

I haven't knit anything Whedon related but I do love his work. Have you seen the little piece of Buffy knitting doen by Minty Fresh?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32719556@N00/151845751

Submitted by e_to_the_m on 21 July 2008 - 6:41am.

Love Love LOVE Joss Whedon. I've celebrated the last three Valentine's Days in a very Angel-esque fashion.

http://hiphipcrochet.blogspot.com/2007/02/happy-valentines-day.html

At this point, I've released 3 hearts into the general population. At least one is used during CPR training (that just makes me giggle.)

One of the best parts of having a full-time, well-paying job for the first time in 3 years was the ability to buy the full DVDs of Buffy and Angel (I succumbed to Firefly even with the pervasive brokeness...ah, Nathan the things I'd crochet for you...)

Submitted by Pam - Hip Hip C... on 21 July 2008 - 6:58am.

Let's not forget the Bittys, Sculpey figures made by tralfamadore2001:

http://www.iamaspy.com/bitty/index.shtml

Including Bitty Joss, who comes in 3 flavors:


Submitted by Kiba on 21 July 2008 - 7:27am.

This one's knitted, not crocheted, but here's my Big Damn Washcloth, made for the organizer of our local CSTS event.

Cloth3

StDebb

Submitted by StDebb on 21 July 2008 - 8:50am.

I don't crochet, but I did knit this Christmas ornament:

Submitted by Doctroid on 21 July 2008 - 10:06am.

Those mini Jayne hats are also nice hanging from your rear view mirror in the car, or with a pin back on them for that special occasion. I wore one to the CSTS screening, and before I was even in the door, someone wanted to buy one!

StDebb

Submitted by StDebb on 21 July 2008 - 2:58pm.

Well, I am co-moderator for this:

http://community.livejournal.com/bigdamnknitters/

I also organized the Big Damn Knitting drive to make Jayne Hats for sale at Comic-Con by the California Browncoats. We got a grand total of 131 hats -- about 10 times what we've done in previous years.

BetN

Submitted by BetNoir on 21 July 2008 - 11:17am.

Well, I haven't crocheted anything Whedonesque, however, I'm a HUGE Firefly fan (own the series and the movie, Serenity). I also purchased Dr. Horrible, in order to support those fine actors and writers and everyone else who worked on it. :)

~Debbie~

Submitted by c-mama on 21 July 2008 - 3:03pm.

ok, how's this for a big blog? i'm the managing editor for the Daily Chum (www.limenviolet.com/blog)

i'm sending this to my crochet editor as we speak. 14K readers, baby!

Submitted by adminnie on 21 July 2008 - 6:23pm.

W00t! You rock!

And thanks to everyone who's posted. Go tell 8 friends!

Check out Interweave Crochet and the Crochet Me book!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 21 July 2008 - 9:21pm.

I've blogged about it... that will get word out to at least 6 other people. ;)
http://baremaked.blogspot.com/

I'm off to submit some anonymous tips to some bigger blogs I know.... this HAS to happen!

Submitted by Beach on 22 July 2008 - 7:12pm.

I've blogged about it and will post it to the Big Damn Crafters Yahoo group momentarily - we're an Etsy team banded together over our love for Firefly/Serenity.

Here are my pieces inspired by Joss' genius, and here's a link to works by the entire BDC team!

Submitted by Sweet Tarragon on 23 July 2008 - 2:30pm.

Oh, my goodness. Here are my submissions.

I made a Jayne hat and blogged it here (at the bottom of the post):
http://peaceableimperatrix.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/so-many-fos/

My girls made a Barbie the Vampire Slayer series of photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93572896@N00/sets/72157594563865038/

I have blogged about the start of our addiction in two parts

http://peaceableimperatrix.wordpress.com/2006/03/24/trixie-vampire-delay...

http://peaceableimperatrix.wordpress.com/2006/03/30/trixie-vampire-delay...

I will be blogging this, too!

Submitted by Imperatrix on 23 July 2008 - 2:51pm.

Although I haven't made anything myself, I do always eye the Cunning Hat as something fun. However, I stumbled upon these at Ravelry. And I might just crochet a Mal or Wash to help this cause along.

Submitted by marikka on 23 July 2008 - 4:13pm.

I have one of those little Jayne amigurumi dolls from Geek Central Station too! He oversees my beading table to keep me focused. Or to entertain me. Or both.

I do crochet, but haven't been inspired to make any crocheted pieces as it inflames my tendonitis (boo hiss.)

As a member of the Big Damn Crafters team on Etsy, I made a couple of Kaylee-inspired pieces...


Kaylee's Everyday Necklace


Kaylee's Wedding Necklace

And prior to that I made a ring just for Spike (From Buffy)...

Submitted by Triplelle Designs on 23 July 2008 - 6:28pm.

OMG. A ring that says effulgent! Awesome.

Check out Interweave Crochet and the Crochet Me book!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 23 July 2008 - 6:59pm.

Imperatrix directed me to this site. I am the proud owner of a Jayne hat knitted by Her Imperial Coolness. Anything I can do to help the Whedon interview cause is surely worth it! Please check out the pattern she used as modeled by Trixie here: http://peaceableimperatrix.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/so-many-fos/

Submitted by 3of4 on 23 July 2008 - 7:06pm.

I might be a bit late here, but I have contributed my efforts!

http://knittyknittygirl.blogspot.com/

Submitted by missmamamoon on 23 July 2008 - 7:27pm.

It's so not too late! Thanks for posting! (And hi, from a fellow Vancouverite :)

Check out Interweave Crochet and the Crochet Me book!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 23 July 2008 - 9:51pm.

I have a great many crocheted Firefly-related things, but this one is my current favorite...
The Cupcake They Call Jayne

Or is it this one?
Decapitated Dollies - Shepherd Book

Submitted by scarywhitegirl on 24 July 2008 - 6:21am.

mad for crochet! Hee hee! Put away the hair!!

Submitted by sarahcrit on 28 July 2008 - 2:39pm.

I haven't made any Whedon-inspired anything, but I wanted to add my support.

"My CROCHET HOOK is my hammer!" LOL!

Submitted by TurquoizBlue on 24 July 2008 - 6:27am.

My husband and I created a Tall Card Deck (Shindig), complete with a rule book.

The first deck went out as part of a swap, which also included dorky stuff like recycled water bottle glasses (Train Job), arm warmers (just rustic and recycled, in the spirit of the show), and a letter that was written from the perspective of a passenger on the ship (or one like it): page 1; page 2; page 3.

I've also knit 3 Jayne hats:
Jayne Hat

And, finally, a felted bowl in the Jayne hat colors:
bowl4

Submitted by crazycatladymel on 24 July 2008 - 3:04pm.

Handmade Jayne hats and kits from my site, http://www.wearwithstyle.com, pay for my autistic daughter's occupational and speech therapy. I'm nearing my thousandth customer. Without Browncoats, I swear I don't know how our family would do it. If you do get to talk to Joss, tell him thanks for me.

Here's proof that the Whedonverse crosses all fan boundaries. Check it - Jean Luc gets cunning. Make it so, gorrammit!

Submitted by Tvini on 24 July 2008 - 4:50pm.

Joss rocks!!!! I am a member of the Big Damned Crafters street team on Etsy and a huge Whedonite. You can see some of my Buffy themed altered books pages if you scroll down to the bottom of this page: http://rachelkitterman.com/alteredbooks.html

And here are some of my Buffy tarot cards: http://indigoluna.typepad.com/indigo_spirit/2006/01/day_eighteen_th.html

I definitely have some Dr. Horrible related crafting in my future!

Submitted by BlessedaretheGeek on 24 July 2008 - 5:34pm.

Yay Tvini! Most inspiring crafter in Whedon fandom, I think.

Back once I've made Kim's Jayne-hat pattern...

Submitted by Kiba on 24 July 2008 - 6:51pm.

Thanks to my 'net friend Laurie for the link - I had to join in!
Photobucket is hiding my pics so here's a blog link to my "fanghan" http://kookaloo52.blogspot.com/2008/03/26.html

Submitted by Kookaloo_Starr on 25 July 2008 - 1:06am.

I thought I was geeky, but man - I don't even have ONE Jayne hat! What's the deal with those? Are they easy to make?

All I know is that I loved Buffy and I love Dr. Horrible and I therefore love Joss. (I also really love NPH! What a cutie!)

Submitted by nniiccoollee on 25 July 2008 - 8:15am.

Super easy! I just posted a pattern for a crocheted Jayne hat. You know you need one.

Check out Interweave Crochet and the Crochet Me book!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 25 July 2008 - 8:21am.

You know, my Whedon love is such a regular part of my life I only just now realized I do have a recent Whedoncraft to share!

For my first ever freezer-paper stencil.... what else would I do but the Blue Sun logo? 

 Details here: http://baremaked.blogspot.com/2008/07/freezer-paper-stencil-fun.html

Submitted by Beach on 25 July 2008 - 4:23pm.

I have no pictures of the Jayne hat I crocheted for my friend's newborn and adorable daughter. But it was close to the hit of the baby shower. (I have to admit that the crocheted giant plush carrot, which bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Mr. Pointy, was THE hit...) But given how much Joss Whedon's work has inspired knitters and crocheters alike, how could he NOT be interviewed by a crochet magazine of some sort?

Submitted by Msgypsy on 27 July 2008 - 7:41pm.

Heya Kim...

If I am not mistaken, I believe my cousin knows Joss. My cousin is a comic artist :) Anyway, I have some comics my cousin gave to me, will look through- maybe there are some links.. anyway I remember something about the X-Men, and my cousin may have done some work somewhere along the line. Anyway.. I will blog out this plight and also get a hold of my cousin! If he knows Joss, I am absolutely sure he will lend a hand. And if he doesn't, maybe he can get it through the grapevine to him :)

Submitted by LisaCGarden on 28 July 2008 - 1:19pm.

mad for crochet! Here is my crochet model of Serenity!

serenity 4

Submitted by sarahcrit on 28 July 2008 - 2:42pm.

OK, I'll play :).

Here is a pic of me in my Jayne hat:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23355670@N00/53925235/in/set-1169298/

I made it before I knew how to knit in the round or seam properly, so there's a nice, raggedy seam running up the back, and it's a bit big, so I may pass it on to my fiance and make myself another one, but there it is.

Also, here's a bag I stenciled for a friend:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23355670@N00/128117513/in/set-1457325/

I made a Zoe bag for a swap as well, but I can't find a picture of it :(.

Submitted by redheadedali on 28 July 2008 - 7:35pm.

I'm late to the party, but I've got this knitted browncoat-patch laptop sleeve. Here it is actually protecting my precious computer. It's not what you'd call accomplished knitting, but I am telling myself that the scrappy, thrown-together effect adds to the gritty authenticity.

Submitted by whirlygirl on 29 July 2008 - 7:00am.

I had a friend knit a couple of tiny Jayne hats for my twin niece and nephew. You can see pictures of the hats and my brother and my niece and nephew at my brother's blog here:
http://blog.wayfellows.com/2007/09/03/cuddling-pictures/

And also, the babies a few months later modeling the hats themselves.
http://blog.wayfellows.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/img_8798-small.JPG

My husband has a grown-up size Jayne hat, but I have no pictures. And our hamsters are named Dru, Fred and Jayne.

Submitted by girlalive on 29 July 2008 - 7:26am.

I have made at least 4 Jayne hats. Every time I have my needles out with that very distinctive combination of colors, my friends (all big gamers and whedon fans like me) ask if I'm making it for them.

Seriously, I can't keep a Jayne hat for myself!

I even made one in San Jose Sharks colors for a particular friend who has an obsession with both Joss and the Sharks.

Submitted by gothmom on 29 July 2008 - 8:01am.

Got this link from my Google Reader. :D

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/07/joss-whedon-cro.html

~Debbie~

Submitted by c-mama on 30 July 2008 - 7:09am.

Hi all,

This is the Eva referenced in the Entertainment Weekly Popwatch blog post linked to above. I enlisted my friend, a writer for EW, to help you in your quest for Jossification. She's a huge Joss fan (but not a crafter...yet; I'm working on that). I hope it helps!

And to Kim and all the people who've posted, I'm impressed and inspired by your crafts! Thanks!

Submitted by Pureeval5 on 30 July 2008 - 9:32am.

Thank you so much, Eva!

Check out Interweave Crochet and the Crochet Me book!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 30 July 2008 - 9:37am.

How about the Jayne Cobb-Chilla? I bought this cell phone holder off Etsy for my sis's birthday and this was the other use she found for it...

Chinchilla 002

Submitted by polysyllabic.spree on 30 July 2008 - 10:42am.

I spread the word through my knitting site at About.com:

http://knitting.about.com/b/2008/07/31/knitting-in-the-news-a-sock-wars-...

I hope this works out, it would be super cool!

Sarah

Submitted by SarahtheKnitter on 31 July 2008 - 5:02pm.

Raveler artcat81 messaged me with the following awesome Whedoncrafts:

I wanted to contribute my crafty creations to the growing pile knitted serenity chief among them http://www.texasartcat.com/knitted_serenity/

and recreating the ballistic mesh looking material seen on Zoe’s soldier costume http://www.texasartcat.com/ballisticmesh.html

and my cunning hat :) http://flickr.com/photos/24145253@N07/2577935084/

Check out Interweave Crochet and the Crochet Me book!

Submitted by Kim Werker on 2 August 2008 - 12:54pm.

This is what my husband and I made that had a subconcious something to do with Joss Whedon. Her name is Kaylee River. It was after we decided that we liked that name that it clicked with Firefly.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=...
(Sorry this is the only way I can show you, my computer is being stupid right now.)

Submitted by Tatooine84 on 2 August 2008 - 9:28pm.
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