Knitters Outraged after Olympic Committee Quashes Knitting Olympics

Do you believe this??? The U.S. Olympic Committee thinks Ravelry's Knitting Olympics, known as the Ravelympics, denigrates real athletes.

http://gawker.com/5920036/us-olympics-committee-is-mad-at-knitting-olympics-for-denigrating-real-athletes

Does this make sense to anyone?

Knitting a man's Aran sweater between the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics does not rank with running a four-minute mile or a finishing a marathon faster than anyone else in the world, but it isn't something most people can do. Like the marathon, it's something only a small percentage of people even attempt.

What do you think? Does a knitting olympics denigrate the world's athletes?

Update: The U.S. Olympic Committee apologized for their cease-and-desist letter after two million outraged knitters with pointy sticks set up a world-wide howl. And posted to the U.S.O.C.'s Facebook wall, tweeted, called, and wrote letters.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/21/155508908/after-knitters-get-in-a-twist-usoc-apologizes-for-cease-and-desist-letter

Is that a pitiful excuse for an apology or what? And how about that request for knitters to send the objects the U.S.O.C. scorned yesterday to the athletes? Badly done, U.S.O.C. Your mothers would be ashamed of you.

Susannah

Knitting Olympics, Part II

My knitting olympics was not as successful as I had hoped. I had three WIPs (works in progress) that I hoped to finish---a sweater-tunic for my oldest grandniece and two Adult Surprise Jackets for myself, one in Noro Silk Garden Worsted, the other in Dream in Color Classy in the Dusky Aurora Colorway---as well as pair of socks I hoped to knit for my younger sister.

By the closing ceremony, the socks (Wendy Johnson's Nanner Socks) were two-thirds to three-quarters finished. The legs were only about three inches long, which means I knit 10 inches worth of two socks. (Or twenty inches of "tubing," 7 inches in circumference.  That's 44+ square inches of sock. To put that into terms non-sock-knitters can readily understand, if I'd been knitting a strip one inch wide, it would have been 44 1/2 inches long by the closing ceremonies.) I have worked on these socks, off and on, since. When I asked my sister over the weekend how long she wanted the leg of the socks, she said she preferred knee socks. So, I still have a few inches to go.

As for the WIPs, I never touched my grandniece's sweater-tunic, which still needs sleeves and a neckband. I also never worked on the Noro Adult Surprise Jacket (a.k.a. the Coat of Many Colors). I need to pick up the buttons I ordered before I can knit the next row---the row with the buttonholes---and I never got to my LYS (local yarn store) to pick them up.

In hindsight (so much clear than foresight!), I ought to have started with the project closest to being finished instead of the one with the most still to knit. But I didn't.  I did, however, add five inches to the other Adult Surprise Jacket. (Back to the hypothetical one-inch strip. If I'd been knitting it instead, I would have increased its length by more than 200 inches.) I left the much lighter colored skein of yarn in the jacket, and knit about five more inches---almost two more skeins of yarn. The two skeins after the light one are darker, but not quite as dark as the first three skeins. I'll post a photo of the jacket when it is finished.

I will pick up the buttons on Friday. This week is spring break, so there are few demands on my time, other than the ever-present grading. Grading is the main reason why I didn't make more knitting progress during the Olympics. I only knit during the figure skating and speed skating, and I graded during all the other events.

While I didn't get as much knitting done during the Olympics as I hoped, I did get most of a pair of socks knit and made significant progress on one of my jackets. And I didn't fall behind on the grading. All in all, I'm pleased.

Susannah