Ravelympics - here I come!

If you haven't heard, there's quite the movement* over at Ravelry coinciding with the Beijing Summer Olympics. Knitters are excited, ready to challenge themselves - myself included!!!

This is Adonis Dionysus Bobicus Maximus, mascot of the Games.
Illustrated by Guin.
(Image used with her permission. Thanks again!)

Basically the challenge is this - cast on for a project during the opening ceremony (or later, it's about 7AM CST by me.) The goal is to have the object finished before the closing ceremonies, a mere 17 days later. This is quite fast knitting, if you ask me; because I'm used to taking my time, and even reworking portions to get them just right.

So, what have I challenged myself with, for this awesome gathering of knitters? A lot. To start, I'll be sprinting on my Glacier Diamonds scarf - it was already started, so it's considered WIP Wrestling. Hopefully, I can have that finished very quickly, so I can move on to my main event, the Sweater Sprint. I've picked the Shetland Shorty from this Summer's Knitty, a cute lace bolero. I didn't even realize until I started swatching, that the lace stitch is called "Bird's Eye" which reminds me of the "Bird's Nest" aquatic center! Haha! I picked a nice grey yarn - Knit Picks Gloss (sock weight,) in Dolphin. It's merino/silk so it's nice on my hands and has great stitch definition!

The final challenge, (I know, I know - I probably won't even get this far, but who knows?) is a biggie! I'm designing a lace-weight stole, knit horizontally with (maybe) beaded fringe. I know, I'm nuts. But, if I can make it scarf-width by the 25th, I think I'll have to consider myself a winner anyway. I'm so excited about writing my own knit patterns, I hope I can do well with them, even if it's not financially. I've been blue-grey for a few months, and it's really wearing on my soul.

I'm using 2 skeins of variegated blue Malabrigo Laceweight for the stole, and I have some lovely beads. But, I may save them for just the ends. I don't have that many, and I always worry about glass beads feeling cold on my shoulders in a wrap.

Wish me luck in my events! I'm in Designer's Discuss, Lace Weight Long Jump, Shawl Relay, Sweater Sprint and WIP Wrestling, and I've got my work cut out for me! (myself, me - which is the right one here? hehehe.)

*Link will only work for Ravelry members! Sorry to tease if you're not in yet!