Steotchalong 3 begins on June 15, and as promised, we are incorporating a small contest into this year’s event.  Seeing as each year there’s a bit of a flurry of guesses and speculation once we’re underway, and we always acknowledge the first person to identify the pattern – whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, or the official forums – this year we’re just going to go ahead and make it official:

ヽ( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)ﾉ    GUESS THE PATTERN AND WIN    ~(˘▾˘~)

Here are the rules:

1)      HOW TO GUESS: On Monday, when we post Pattern 1, we will also post an Official Guesses thread on the Steotch.com forum.  You must use this thread to post your guess.  If you want to shout out your guesses somewhere else on the interwebs, like our Facebook page, that’s fine, but to win the contest, it’s got to be here.  You can only guess once on the official thread.  Choose wisely.

2)      SPECIFICITY:  Your guess needs to have some degree of specificity.  In other words, if – hypothetically speaking – the eventual pattern ends up being Omar Little eating Honey Nut Cheerios – we’re not going to give you the win if you just posted “The Wire” a week earlier.  You need to be more specific.

3)      WHAT’S THE PRIZE?:  The winner will receive a new never-before-seen original finished Steotch sampler, along with a do-it-yourself kit from our Etsy store, and some Steotch postcards and decals.  Suggested retail value:  $78,000.

4)      ATTIRE:  Clothing is optional during the Steotchalong but we recommend sitting on a towel.

5)      WHO CAN PLAY?:  We’re willing to ship the prize package to anywhere in the US or Canada – but not overseas.  If you live somewhere other than America or America’s Hat, and are the first to guess, we will be happy to offer you a generous gift certificate for the Steotch Etsy store.  You do not need to purchase anything to play, and do not need to make a contribution to the pay-what-you-want fund for the Steotchalong.

6)      DISPUTES:  We’re trusting you guys to not take this too seriously.  In any event, let it be set forth here that the winner will be decided by Steotch alone and the decision will be final.