Let the Games Begin

The Olympics, and therefore the Ravelympics have begun!
7 sts per inch was indeed obtained on a US1 double point. Turns out the skinny, straight needle I was thinking of was a US 3. Why I have a 9 inch long US3 straight is beyond me. I can tell from the price tag that I bought it back in 2004 when I was at PatternWorks. That was when I was still building my needle collection and hadn't developed a preference for straights or circulars. I also bought my Denise set at PatternWorks, figuring it was a good investment as it eliminated the need to buy all those needles in various sizes.
Thus I quickly developed a preference for circulars. And the only needles I've had to buy are the smaller circs that are not in the Denise set and double points.
I suspect I bought this US3 in order to make the Stella Blouse. For which I still have not cast on. At the time I didn't buy the yarn, I think I figured the pattern was beyond me, or the store didn't have it.
I toyed with the idea of making Stella my Ravelympic project, but I didn't think I could finish an entire sweater in 17 days and didn't want too much pressure. (Although I'm aware some people have accomplished that feat, and I admire them.)
Sundae doesn't have sleeves. Although I'm not sure what I was thinking committing to work on lace and beading on the train. This project is on behalf of Team Yankees.

Back to the US1
When I found those straight were US3, I sat there a moment wondering what to do. I have two sets of US1 dpns, my 5" Brittany currently in my Peacock Socks, and some 6 or 7 inch Crystal Palace.
"It's just a swatch," I thought and got the Crystal Palace out. When I achieved gauge, I debated trying to convince Hubby to stop at Knitting Central for me Wednesday, since he would practically be driving by because he had to go into school anyway, and get the Addi Turbos for me. Then I realized that the Crystal Palace double points were long enough to fit all 61 sts I have to cast on for the individual fronts. Good thing I wear and extra small!
This meant I could get through the weekend, or at least the next 48 hours, until I was at the store myself.
The back calls for 124 sts, which wouldn't fit on the double point and I don't want to suspend them over 2 double points, as that would be silly, uncomfortable, and probably make a nasty ladder.

New Circ
As it turns out, my anxiety was unwarranted. The train was late Tuesday morning, there were rumors "they" were going to stick us on buses, and people were bailing for other stations. I decided to just drive in. Which worked out really well because I had some errands to run anyway and was then able to stop at Knitting Central on my way home and pick up the US1 circulars I needed.
Of course when I waltzed in to get them I was forced to admit that I had swatched on bamboo and was intending to knit on metal.
Actually, to my surprise Cynthia remembered the yarn and the gauge and that the suggested needle was US3. I think we carried it like 2 years ago. This should not surprise me—the woman knows her stuff. So I said I had swatched on regular US2 Addis and got 6 sts so I had to go down to US1.
The concern, of course, is that many people find their gauge changes when they change needle materials. However D said regular Addis often make gauge loose, but the Lace Addis should give the same gauge as bamboo. I hadn't worked with the Lace Addis yet, so I didn't know my own mileage. Usually I'm able to swatch and knit with the same needles.
Swatching commenced after dinner and I, thankfully, got 7 still. Phew. Then I transfered beads to two other balls for the two fronts. When I strung them originally I strung all 500 or so onto one ball of yarn. sheesh.

WIPs Wrestling
My other Ravelympics project, on behalf of Team TARDIS, is to finish my Nell sweater. All I have left is knitting the right button band with the button holes, sewing on the buttons, and seaming the sides and under the arms.
I don't think this will take 17 days, but it has already taken several months, so you never know. This will be a home project, it is too big to drag around on the train. Which is basically why I ended up deciding to join two teams with two different projects.
I'm fairly certain that all sock knitting will stop during this time frame. Which is sort of a shame since Summer of Socks 08 ends on September 1.
Oh, well. You can't knit 'em all.