HOW-TO // What to Do If Your Kickstarter Campaign Fails

So you didn't reach your Kickstarter goal. You're not alone! The scary truth is that less than half of all Kickstarter campaigns reach their goal--and as you probably know, if you don't reach your goal, you don't collect anything. You're a grown up, you know it's nothing personal. Raising money is tough any way you cut it and you always knew this was a possibility. So what now? It's time to dust yourself off and figure out how to make your dream come true.

We see a lot of campaigns get started, some have amazing, life-changing outcomes, some go a bit rockier. Either way, we want to help you see your ideas/businesses/causes through and in the event your Kickstarter doesn't go as planned, we've amassed some helpful tips for startin' fresh.

First bit of positive reinforcement: The good news is you've put together a lot of quality material detailing why you and your project are great. Now here's what to do with it:

• If you haven't already, see what's available in the way of grants and fellowships. Of course, this money is hard-earned--depending on which program(s) you apply for, you could be competing against thousands of applicants for just one or two positions. But often the applications are free, and the prestige from actually getting one of these things will look great to potential investors.
• Look into small business loans. This can be a bit intimidating; it means taking on debt and being beholden to lenders. But interest rates are generally low, and there actually is a lot of money available. Lenders may even want you to take more than you think you'll need, just to ensure you can do things right and become profitable.
• Ask your family. We're joking a little, and maybe you've already tried this and it didn't go so well. Or maybe it just feels like a hard pill to swallow. But family is the ultimate low-interest lender, and they have a vested interest in your success. Seriously, if you haven't done it and you have decent relationships with family members (and they have a little disposable income) just ask.
• Look for teammates. Find people who are successfully doing things that are complementary to your project and email them directly. Link them to your materials and explain why you think you should work together. The worst-case scenario is that they'll ignore you completely, and they're already doing that, so why not try?
• Do a bit of tweaking and restart your Kickstarter. Do everything you can to get your page featured on a curated site. Study Google Adwords to make it search-engine optimized. Link it Times Style trend pieces. Throw everything you've got at making it stand out.
• Contact the media. Email every blog, magazine, newspaper, web show, whatever you can think of and tell them what you're trying to do and where it went wrong. Again, the worst thing that will happen is you'll be get no response. But most of us media types are so inundated with soulless, grammatically hideous press releases that your heartfelt prose will move us...maybe even enough to take up your cause. 

The bottom line to resetting is knowing you're not in this alone. If you don't get your cash in the first round, it's more likely that your pitch neeeds work than that your idea does, so use the resources available to you (and if you're a 3rd Ward member, take full of advantage of this wonderful community you've helped build.)

No matter what: Keep at it. You will make it happen.

--Layla Schlack

HOW TO // So You Want To Knit A Hat

Rag & Bone made this one. Now you can too.We understand Fall hasn't officially set in (85 degrees last Monday felt a tad out of place), but we assure you, it will happen.  And when it does, thanks to today's trusty how-to, you--and your head--will be ready.

Most new knitters think a scarf is the best project to cut their teeth on.  Little do they know: A hat is faster to finish and has some shaping with it, so that just when you start feeling comfortable--bam!--you learn a new technique. Of course, when finished it will also keep in 80% of your body heat. And you don't even need a fancy pattern--you just need these basic guidelines that we're about to give you. Ready? Your head is going to be so warm!

Materials

1. Yarn. You can use any fiber, any texture, whatever you want! Depending on its weight, you'll need somewhere in range of 100 yards--more for very thin yarns, less for chunky yarns, usually a single skein or ball will do the trick.

2. A pair of 16-inch circular needles. What size you use (this is the girth of the needles) will depend on your yarn. If you already own yarn that you'd like to use, you can bring it to a yarn shop and they'll help you sort it out.

3. A set of four or five double-pointed needles in the same size as your circular needle.

4. A fun little thing called ring markers, or just scrap yarn in a contrasting color to your main hat yarn.

You're now essentially halfway to a handknit hat. Ready to start knitting? Hit the jump for the step-by-step.

Instructions

1. Make a gauge swatch. This is how you'll make your hat the correct size. Cast on 16 stitches and knit about two inches. Bind off. Lay the swatch flat and measure how many stitches per inch you're getting.

2. Measure your head. Place the tape measure where the band of your hat will lie. If you have big hair and don't want your hat squishing it down, measure around the outside of your hair. The typical adult head size is 22-24 inches, so if you're making a gift, base your size on that general range.

3. Math time. Multiply your head circumference by the number of stitches per inch you're getting. So if you're using a worsted-weight yarn and getting 4.5 stitches per inch, and you have a 24-inch head, 24x4.5=108. That gets you in the ballpark of the number of stitches you want to cast on, but you want it to be a multiple of 11, so round up or down--whichever is closest.

4. Cast on your stitches on your 16-inch circular needles.

5. When they are all cast on, place your marker on the needle, or tie your scrap yarn on, and join the stitches being very careful not to twist them.

Stockinette stitch with ribbed edge6. Start knitting. If you knit every row when you're working in the round, it will come out as stockinette stitch and the edge will roll. If you want the edge to lie flat do a knit one stitch, purl one stitch rib. If you want a cuff at the bottom of the hat, rib 2-4 inches, whatever your preference. Then you're going to work (knit, rib, do some crazy pattern stitch--it's your world) the distance from the top of your ear to the crown of your head, generally about 8 inches.

7. Now it's time for that shaping technique we mentioned. Ready? Knit 9 stitches, then knit 2 together for this round. Then you're going to work a round plain. Then knit 8 stitches, knit 2 together. Then a row plain. Knit 7, knit 2 together. You get the idea. When it gets down to it, you'll just knit 2 together all the way around. You want to end up with 4 stitches left, give or take.

8. At some point in your decreases, you'll have too few stitches to go all the way around your circular needle, so you're going to switch to your double-pointed needles. The way these work is that you divide your stitches between three (or four) needles and knit on to the fourth/fifth.

9. Once you're down to your 4 or so stitches, you're going to cut your yarn, leaving a tail of 2 or 3 inches. Pull it through the remaining stitches and pull them together like a draw string. Tuck the tail inside and weave in your ends.

10. Congratulate yourself on making a hat. Wear it everywhere no matter the weather and tell anyone looking in the general direction of your head that you made your hat. That's the reason you did this, right?

--Layla Schlack

HOW TO // Infuse Your Booze With An Autumnal Twist

So you've finished canning, and you're looking for a new Fall-time kitchen project. Why not infuse some booze? It rhymes and yields tasty, impressive results perfect for making seasonal cocktails. What you need: Alcohol. It doesn't need to be top-shelf, since you'll be messing around with the taste anyway. You'll also need a cheese cloth and whatever flavor you're going to be using.

Hit the jump and we'll give you the step-by-step, as well as a handful of our favorite autumnal recipes. Though the first real step in infusing your own booze is knowing that it's unbelievably simple.

Firstly, make your cheesecloth bundle with whatever flavors you want your infusion to be. Place it in a bottle of booze. Let it sit for six days (this just seems to be the magic number). Remove cheesecloth bundle. Drink. Drink some more. That's it.

Here are a few that we like. Note that we're pairing bolder, spicier flavors with darker, stronger booze (that's intentional for the colder season):

Clove Bourbon: If you're using a full bottle of bourbon, use six whole cloves. If you mix it with peach tea, your hot toddies will be talked about far and wide.

Ginger Bourbon: Cut about half an inch of a ginger root, and then slice or shred it into little pieces. Try mixing with club soda and garnishing liberally with pear slices. 

Satsuma Rum: These little citrus fruits are in season through the winter. Zest the peel of one. Try it with a golden rum and add a splash to apple cider, hot, cold, or mulled. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Cinnamon Rum: Use three cinnamon sticks and add to hot cocoa. We all know that Mexican hot chocolate is the business--think of this as its drunk cousin.

Earl Grey Vodka: As much tea as you would use to make a pot of tea (not a cup) will work for a full bottle of vodka. If you want to cut out the cheesecloth-bundle step, just use two or three tea bags, to taste. Mix with simple syrup and lemon, and maybe a splash of your clove bourbon.

Now, if you want to get crazy artisinal and try infusing your booze with bacon, brown butter or any other sticky, gooey stuff, you'll be making something fantastically referred to as a fat wash. If you're like us, you might want to try it just to say you've "made a fat wash."

The way this works is you render all the food's fat (or in the case of brown butter, just make some brown butter), and then put it in the refrigerator over night to solidify it. It should be in a sealable container large enough to hold as much alcohol as you want to use (a bottle or jar.) Then you're going to pour your booze on top, close the container and leave it in the fridge for those magical six days.

This is just a jumping-off point, but the bottomline is this: You can infuse anything with anything. Now get creative and throw yourself (and you're friends, we suppose) a cocktail party. Cheers.

--Layla Schlack