Ravelry Reluctantly Renames Ravelympics

(ATR) Members of an online networking site for knitters and crochetiers tell Around the Ringsthe U.S. Olympic Committee forced them to change the name of their 2012 "Ravelympics" competition.

The outraged members of "Ravelry" renamed their biennial event the 2012 "Ravellenic Games" on Wednesday after the USOC claimed the competition was both a copyright infringement and an insult to the Olympic Games.

"The USOC has put a bee in the bonnet of some two million Ravelry members," avid knitter and site member Linda Rockwell tells ATR. "I'm guessing that the buzz will continue for a while."

The USOC initially contacted Ravelry last year when the site displayed an image of the "2010 Ravelympic Badge of Glory". The USOC explained that the image was considered an intellectual property right infringement, after which Ravelry took down the offending image.

The matter seemed to be closed until recently when Casey Forbes, co-founder of Ravelry, received a letter from USOC law clerk Brett Hirsch demanding that the Ravelympics be renamed and that any pictures of craft projects featuring Olympic symbols be taken off the site.

Although USOC communications chief Patrick Sandusky issued a statement claiming the letter was "standard-form", the letter included the allegation that "a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games."

After the contents of the letter were posted to Ravelry on June 20, thousands of members flooded the forum to express indignation at the accusation that their community-building games were "disrespectful." The self-proclaimed "fiber folk"coordinate a variety of games throughout the year – including the "Tour de Fleece" – to encourage community spirit and create yet another occasion to knit.

The competition is organized by Ravelry members in tandem with the Summer and Winter Olympics. Participants are required to start a project during the opening ceremony of the Games and wrap up before the Olympic Torch is extinguished.

"When the Torch is extinguished we must stop," Ravelry member Susan Sarabasha explains. "If we have completed our challenge we get to cheer and use a special Ravatar, otherwise we just have had some fun and learned more about the country the Olympics are held in, the athletes and the Olympics in general."

Initially, it seemed that the Ravelry members were determined to fight to keep the event name. The craftspeople discussed raising money to mount a legal defense and offered to knit Steven Colbert a lifetime supply of socks if he would publicize their plight.

At urgings from the site's lawyer, however, the Ravelry members instead voted on a new name for the event.

Passing over possibilities such as the "Ravelry Revels" and the "Pan-Ravelry Games", the members renamed the competition the Ravellenic Games.

Sarabasha, who leads the team Spinning Bunny, says that more than 8,600 Ravelry members have already registered to take part in this year’s event.

According to Ravelry, the competition is scheduled to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics, kicking off at the start of the opening ceremony on July 27 and finishing at midnight on August 12.

Efforts made by ATR to reach Forbes, the site co-founder who received the letter, for comment have so far been unsuccessful.

Reported by Hannah Reid

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