(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!

Pull up a chair. Got some stuff to talk about.

First things first: you guys are all AWESOME. The website is doing so well, getting a lot of traffic and even a few orders, which makes me the happiest of pandas. The Facebook page is doing well, too, with lots and lots of likes and views, contributing to the warm fuzzies currently welling in my heart.

Second, I'm kicking around the idea of doing a third round of subscriptions. Tipsy Sheep Part 3: Return of the Sheep.  I've been wanting to branch out into worsted weight yarn, since it's by far the most versatile and often-used weight of yarn, so I'd like to know what you all would think about TSP3:RotS being a worsted weight yarn as opposed to the fingering weight yarn used so far.

survey solutions

If there's interest, voting for the next cocktail inspirations will start in a week or so.

Third, and finally, I'm having a bit of a problem. See, about 5 years ago, I tore a ligament in my right wrist (I'm right-handed) which required surgery to repair.  Since then, whenever I do too much work (which is pretty often), I'll get a fair bit of pain in that wrist.  It's been getting worse over the last month or so, and finally I went to my doctor and she had me get some x-rays. The original surgery had required the doc to file down part of my ulna, and now I have a bone cyst right where that happened and IT HURTS.  There might also be a build-up of scar tissue around the surgery site, which can get inflamed and cause problems when I over-use the wrist. I have an appointment to see a hand/wrist specialist this week.  (Strangely, this doctor's father was the one to repair my fingertip when it was severed when I was 7, and his brother was one of the doctors who initially evaluated the torn ligament... and I'm now living in a different city and state than the father and brother's practices and I STILL find a doc from the same family to help me out. The world is a shockingly tiny place.)

I should know soon what course of treatment will be necessary to get my wrist working properly again (personally, I'm hoping for a full-on Terminator-style bionic replacement) but there's a chance I'm going to need some help in the next few months to keep making yarn.  If anyone in the Portland OR area would like to "volunteer" - and be paid in yarn and baked goods - please leave a comment.