Going for the Gold-en Fleece

As most of you know, the Olympics start this Friday in Rio. What some of you may not know is that Ravelry (the yarn smith's favorite place) also hosts it's own set of games.

And this year, we've got us a team.

That's right, this is your official welcome to join Team Black Goat and bring home some golden fleecy glory.

Why bother, you ask?

Because anyone who participates, even if you don't finish, will be entered in to a prize drawing for some scha-weet prizes.

We have an Official Chatter Thread to hang out in and talk amongst ourselves.

Now, there are rules to the whole shebang, and Ravelry has set up some great FAQ's to help you along.

For those of you new to the games entirely, check out A Good Place to Start.

When you're ready, create your project page or pages. That's right! You can do more than one project! For help on making sure the project is properly set up for the games check out Ravelry's Guide to Project Creation.

Not sure what event you want to join? Check out the Event List.

This year, laurels are being awarded by team captains. These are elements that your project may contain, like beads or cables. That list is also included on the Event List link right above. You may also want to take a glance at the Events FAQ if you have any questions.

Now, your project page is going to need some fancy tags to make sure it's put in the right category. DON'T PANIC! All of your tagging questions will be answered in the helpful Tagging Tutorial.

JUST A NOTE! TO MAKE SURE YOUR PROJECT IS PART OF OUR TEAM, IT NEEDS TO BE TAGGED WITH OUR TEAM NAME!

Use the tag teamblackgoat (all one word, all lowercase) when adding the rest of your tags to your project.

As you can see from my project page, I am entered into the Shawl Sailing EVENT. I have added the bead and lace LAURELS as well. I've joined Team Black Goat and my project is an official part of the games.

I have used the Official Ravellenic Games graphic as my placeholder image. If you'd like to do so as well, the image can be found HERE.

I plan on making an official Team Black Goat avatar soon. When I do, it will be posted in our Chatter Thread.

Now, prize info. What you're really interested in.

My plan is to have two giveaways. One is for everyone who participates under the Black Goat team. Join the team and become an official "athelete" to be entered. This means that you'll have to have a properly tagged project page.

The other is for everyone who COMPLETES their project. It will have a little extra umph to it, too.

So, I think that pretty much wraps it up. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the Chatter Thread or ask them here.

This is going to be so much fun, people.

For Gold! For Glory! FOR THE YARN!!!