USOC vs Knitters

The Wife knits. My Mother knits. So I was well aware of the brouhaha involving the USOC and the knitting site Ravelry yesterday. For those unaware, Ravelry is a site for knitters and other textile crafts. Members login to the community and discuss and share aspects of their craft.

Apparently, in support of the Olympics ironically, Ravelry holds a contest called the Ravelympics. Well, when the USOC caught wind of it, they sent a cease and desist letter as part of an automatic reaction to uses or variations on the word “Olympics.” Legally speaking, their actions were legit.

Common sense wise, it was the equivalent of stepping on a hornets nest. The Ravelry community is over 2 million strong and composed of not just a few people whom likely would have been watching the Olympics while exercising their craft. (I am deliberately avoiding knitting puns because all the articles Ive read so far are chock full of them.) After word of the legal notice made the rounds, as well as the tone therein, the USOC now has about 2 million pissed off knitters on their hands.

Demonstrating backbones limper than a skein of yarn, the USOC has backed off and it looks like there will be no legal action taken on their part. Though it seems to be too little, too late as far as the Ravelry community is concerned, as evidenced by a comment highlighted at the end of the linked article.

Hell hath no fury like a knitter scorned.