(I just love that acronym.)

This is the official announcement: Tipsy Sheep Part 3: Return of the Sheep IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!

It seems like most of you want this round of yarns to be worsted weight, so that's what we're going for. I've found a yarn that's just awesome - a superwash 100% merino that's about 218 yards per 100 grams. It's soft and springy and I just want to rub my face on it, so hopefully you will too.

Prices and schedule will follow shortly, but for now, I need your help picking out which cocktails will serve as the inspiration for these yarns. I've found, oh, about a million that look like they could work, so please help me narrow them down!

Ditchhiker - medium blue, light and lime greens, and a smidge of orange and peach.
2xT - deep twilight blue, reddish purple, cactus green, and a splash of burgundy
Night Black - a smooth gradient of blue-black, twillight blue, apple green, and burgundy
Blueberry Alias - shades of purple from deep indigo to lavender, with a pop of lime green
Fruit Tingle - a smooth gradient from deep blue to reddish purple
Grasshopper - deep mint green, a softer bluish creme-de-menth green, white, and a hint of chocolate
Badminton - juniper berry blue, twilight blue, melon green, and a splash of lemon yellow
Japanese Slipper - lemon yellow, melon green, bright orange, and a pop of bright cherry red
Purple Blossom - juniper berry blue, shades of soft purple,  and a hint of lime

I know that's a lot of choices, but I wanted to give a bit of variety here. Some of these colorways would be much darker than the ones I've made so far (particularly 2xT, Night Black, and Fruit Tingle), so bear that in mind. You may also notice that there is virtually no pink in any of these - it was recently pointed out to me how many colorways in parts 1 and 2 had pink them, and I don't want anybody out there to drown in pink!

You can select as many options as you like from the list below, but I'd prefer if you picked just your top 4...

survey tool

This poll will remain open for a few weeks, so please pass this post around!

Another poll: what type of content would you like to see more of?

So far this blog has been basically about one think: making bitchin' yarn.  I've thrown in a few book or pattern reviews, a few personal posts, and promoted a bit of my other work but I'm starting to run out of ideas.  I'm not going to keep making new colorways forever (th final one of Part Deux will probably the last new one for a while) which means this blog would die out, and that would make me very sad.

I've come up with a few things I could start putting on the blog but would be more interested in what you all want to see here.  Here's a little poll (pick as many options as you want) and please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts and feelings.

survey solutions

Poll! How should the shop be set up?

Hey everyone. As you know, I'm planning on opening a real Tipsy Sheep shop in November for those who didn't or couldn't subscribe to the monthly mailings for round one.  Originally I was going to set it up on Etsy, but I've been looking around at other options and suddenly am presented with too many choices. So I'm going to leave it up to you.  Here are the shop types with their pros and cons:

Keep it on the blog - I would set up a shop post where each yarn would be listed, and allow PayPal to handle the shopping cart end of things
Pros: No outside linking, minimal fees per transaction, no listing or hosting fees, easiest thing in the world to set up, PayPal is amazing, great seller protection
Cons: Don't know how shipping would work for multiple items, some people find a blog shop less trustworthy, not too much client communication, anyone who doesn't know about the blog would probably never see the shop

Etsy
Pros: Pretty easy to set up, well known, decent seller protection, easy client communication, shipping calculations are super easy, could reach people outside the blog
Cons: Lots and lots of fees - monthly listing fee for each item plus they take a percentage from each sale, practically zero visibility in the Etsy marketplace due to the sheer number of fiber artists, very little customization or control

Big Cartel (website for artists to build free shops)
Pros: Gosh they look pretty, site doesn't take percentage fee per sale, no listing fees per item, they calculate shipping
Cons: Monthly hosting fee for more than 5 products, PayPal would still take a cut of each sale, I've never used it before so it might take longer to set up

A real tipsysheep.com website with shop - it would be nearly the same thing as having a shop on the blog, but with a real domain name
Pros: Lots of room for expansion, complete customization, trustworthy domain, could integrate the blog, no listing fees
Cons: Monthly hosting fees, additional fees for PayPal or whoever we use to handle transactions, harder to reach non-blog customers, will take a while to build as I would design/code it myself

So. There are the options.  If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments - otherwise, use this poll:

surveys & polls

Cocktail inspirations

So.... thinking about continuing the yarn club and/or expanding the Tipsy Sheep line, and I've been browsing for cocktail inspirations for several days. Here's the list of cool things I've found so far:

Alaskan Ice Tea - aqua blue with highlights of pale yellow, lime green, and bright orange, and a bit of darker blue thrown in for fun.
The Smurf - like the AIT, but with a bright strawberryberry pink as the main color
Brain Squash - orange, lemon yellow, bright grapefruit-y pink, and a warm cherry red
Tequila Sunrise - A smooth gradient of rich yellow to orange to pinkish red
Passion Killer - melon pink, lime green, and white. Probably closer to a self-striping than a true handpaint.
Blue - deep purplish blue, berry, lemon and orange
Pretty Rickey - pale peaches and pinks, cherry red, and flecks of lime

So, which of the above do you most want to see?

survey tools

I'm still looking for pretty drinks in the purple spectrum, and I'm thinking of asking a couple local bars for the recipes for their signature cocktails - like the Ms. PacMan from Ground Kontrol and the Fast Talking Clara from the TARDIS Room.

Please leave any suggestions in the comments - I'd love to hear what other drinks you might be interested in seeing adapted to yarn form.

All skeined up and nowhere to go...

I finished skeining and labeling the first kilo of Cosmopolitan yesterday... and I'm torn as to whether to post a preview or not.  I'm one of those people who always shakes her Christmas presents and begs for hints, but I know I'd be pretty bummed if I actually knew what I was getting.  Everyone who signed up for subscriptions has done so totally blind - which is a stunning show of faith in me, by the way, and I thank you profusely for it. So I have to ask: do you want the colorway to remain a surprise until you open it in the mail, or do you want to see pictures right now?

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