What began as a simple online post quickly unraveled into a social media storm last week as members of , a community with more than 2 million knitters, set down their needles and turned to Facebook, Twitter and blogs to protest the Olympic Games.
The United States Olympic Committee sent a “cease-and-desist” letter June 20 regarding the site’s “Ravelympics” games, in which crafters challenge themselves to complete a project in events such as “lace longjump” and “sock put.” The committe said the event name was in violation of the Olympic trademark. Ravelry had dealt with issues of copyright infringement and the Olympics panel before.
This time, the knitting community was tied up in knots because of the language of what was called a “standard form letter,” which was . In response to the overwhelming outpouring of Ravelympics support online — the topic #ravelympics was throughout the first day — the Olympics committee published an apology on its website June 21.
Patrick Sandusky, USOC chief communications and public affairs officer, says he decided to after many knitters took offense.
“It was clear the language was too pointed, that the cease-and-desist letter was too strongly worded,” he said. “We felt the right thing to do was send out an apology for the wording.”
Founded in 2006, Ravelry has hosted the “Ravelympics” coinciding with the last two Olympic Games in 2008 and 2010. This year’s event weaves together more than 8,800 members, who will attempt an ambitious project during the Games. Kickoff comes at the start of the London Olympics July 27, and the event lasts until the closing ceremony Aug. 12.
The name has been changed to the ” ,” evoking the ancient Greek panhellenic games.
Ravelry member “Kimberli” says in her profile she had the idea for the Ravelympics, and is a moderator and group administrator for the Ravellenic Games.
She said in a post, “I love how [the new name] sounds similar … but much easier to say and spell than ‘The Name We Can No Longer Use.’ “
Jaime Jennings, co-owner of craft store Fancy Tiger in Denver, is a member of the Ravelry community. While she understood the necessity of the name change, she said she was surprised the Olympics cared what Ravelry was doing.
“I feel like there’s not any way a person could get confused between the two things,” she said. “It’s pretty trivial.”
On the , more than 350 people commented on the apology, with hundreds more writing messages directly on the page, all voicing dissent.
“It was probably surprising to people outside of our community,” Jennings said. “It’s awesome everyone got to see how connected we are, how we banded together.”
Craftsy CEO John Levisay continued to spin the yarn, penning a pointed two days later. In the statement, he called the action a “legal power play.”
“If the USOC has a half a brain,” he wrote, “they will not issue a half-baked apology to Ravelry and its community, but rather celebrate the Ravelympics as what the ideals of the Olympics are supposed to stand for: people coming together around healthy competition, art, skill, community, and humanity.”
Sandusky says he never set out to make this a personal attack. The panel sends hundreds of letters, he said, and this time they made a mistake.
Sandusky posted a follow-up:
“While we stand by our obligation to protect the marks and terms … we sincerely regret the use of insensitive terms in relation to the actions of a group that was clearly not intending to denigrate or disrespect the Olympic Movement.”
Kelsey Fowler: 303-954-1211 or kfowler@denverpost.com
