Aim to misbehave

I knit.  I make no bones about that.  I learned to knit as a way to....meditate, I guess, when I've got a migraine that's not so severe so that I can't see, but still annoying.  The calming, repetitious movement of my knitting needles, hands, and yarn of choice is soothing and very meditative for me.  While I knit, often there's just me, my sticks, and my string.

I've also knit in a couple of my college classes.  I let my teachers know and will stop if they politely ask me to.  For the most part, it seems that as long as I contribute and follow with what's being discussed, they don't care.  I suppose it's better than looking at my crotch while I text.  Or drool onto my desktop.

There's a stigma attached to knitting and crocheting.  It's old.  Only grannies knit.  NO ONE knits (link to a slate.com article).  Blah blah blah.

My answer to the no one knits?  Why does Ravlery.com exist and flourish?  Because there's over two million people of various genders, ages, ethnicity, religions, sexual orientation, et al all doing something with yarn.

Whoopee-doo, right?  Yeah, not so much.  As a whole, ravelers (a term I'll use to encompass spinners, knitters, crocheters, weavers, dyers, and so on) are exceptionally giving people.  The Japanese tsunami?  Folks who had patterns up offered at least part if not most of the proceeds from certain patterns to relief aid.  Then there's Knitters Without Borders, created by the Yarn Harlot to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.

There's also the knitters who knit stuffed critters for kids in hospitals, afghans for Afghanistan, chemo hats, socks/hats/who knows what for armed forces....Bluntly, ravelers are, for the most part giving people.  Now, I'm not saying that folks who don't indulge in the fiber arts aren't giving--far from it.  But DAMN!  There's over two million people creating something for the soul purpose of making someone smile--even it's the knitter (there's selfish knitters, too.  I can be one of them.  A simple thank you will do wonders, however, to fix this phenomena.  That's all we want.  An honest thank you). 

Ravlery, back in '08, decided to cheer on the Olympics by creating The Ravelympics.  The soul purpose of this?  To challenge yourself to go outside your comfort zone and learn something new.  The only person you can really compete against is yourself.  Oh, and the time limit?  Opening ceremonies to closing.  Enjoy!

So, the fun of Ravelympics has fostered, from what I understand, community, a sense of dude, I can really do intarsia/cabling/lacework/socks/a sweater/whatever, and camaraderie as we all watch the games.  This will be my first year participating.  I plan on a beaded shawl and somehow taking someone else's pattern (with permission) and figuring out how to adjust it to something much, much smaller.  These are challenges for me.  I'm looking forward to it.  If I complete my projects?  I get a little icon that's basically a 'GO YOU!' for my bio page on ravelry.  Simple, right?

Yeah....well, our beloved CodeMonkey, Casey--co-founder of ravelry with his wife, received the following letter earlier this month:

Dear Mr. Forbes,
In March 14, 2011, my colleague, Carol Gross, corresponded with your attorney, Craig Selmach [sic], in regard to a pin listed as the “2010 Ravelympic Badge of Glory.”  At that time, she explained that the use of RAVELYMPIC infringed upon the USOC’s intellectual property rights, and you kindly removed the pin from the website.  I was hoping to close our file on this matter, but upon further review of your website, I found more infringing content.
By way of review, the USOC is a non-profit corporation chartered by Congress to coordinate, promote and govern all international amateur athletic activities in the United States.  The USOC therefore is responsible for training, entering and underwriting U.S. Teams in the Olympic Games.  Unlike the National Olympic Committees of many other countries, the USOC does not rely on federal funding to support all of its efforts.  Therefore, in order to fulfill our responsibilities without the need for federal funding, Congress granted the USOC the exclusive right to use and control the commercial use of the word OLYMPIC a and any simulation or combination thereof in the United States, as well as the OLYMPIC SYMBOL.  See the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, 36 U.S.C. §220501 et seq. (the “Act”).  (A copy of the relevant portion of the Act is enclosed for your convenience.)  The Act prohibits the unauthorized use of the Olympic Symbol or the mark OLYMPIC and derivations thereof for any commercial purpose or for any competition, such as the one organized through your website.  See 36 U.S.C. §220506(c).  The USOC primarily relies on legitimate sponsorship fees and licensing revenues to support U.S. Olympic athletes and finance this country’s participation in the Olympic Games.  Other companies, like Nike and Ralph Lauren, have paid substantial sums for the right to use Olympic-related marks, and through their sponsorships support the U.S. Olympic Team.  Therefore, it is important that we restrict the use of Olympic marks and protect the rights of companies who financially support Team USA.
In addition to the protections of the Act discussed above, the USOC also owns numerous trademark registration that include the mark OLYMPIC. These marks therefore are protected under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq. Thus, Ravelry.com’s unauthorized use of the mark OLYMPIC or derivations thereof, such as RAVELYMPICS, may constitute trademark infringement, unfair competition and dilution of our famous trademarks.
The USOC would like to settle this matter on an amicable basis. However, we must request the following actions be taken.
1.  Changing the name of the event, the “Ravelympics.”;  The athletes of Team USA have usually spent the better part of their entire lives training for the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games and represent their country in a sport that means everything to them.  For many, the Olympics represent the pinnacle of their sporting career.  Over more than a century, the Olympic Games have brought athletes around the world together to compete in an event that has come to mean much more than just a competition between the world’s best athletes.  The Olympic Games represent ideals that go beyond sport to encompass culture and education, tolerance and respect, world peace and harmony.
The USOC is responsible for preserving the Olympic Movement and its ideals within the United States.  Part of that responsibility is to ensure that Olympic trademarks, imagery and terminology are protected and given the appropriate respect.  We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games.  In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.
It looks as if this is the third time that the Ravelympics have been organized, each coinciding with an Olympic year (2008, 2010, and 2012).  The name Ravelympics is clearly derived from the terms “Ravelry” (the name of your website) and OLYMPICS, making RAVELYMPICS a simulation of the mark OLYMPIC tending to falsely suggest a connection to the Olympic Movement.  Thus, the use of RAVELYMPICS is prohibited by the Act.  Knowing this, we are sure that you can appreciate the need for you to re-name the event, to something like the Ravelry Games.
1.  Removal of Olympic Symbols in patterns, projects, etc.   As stated before, the USOC receives no funding from the government to support this country’s Olympic athletes.  The USOC relies upon official licensing and sponsorship fees to raise the funds necessary to fulfill its mission. Therefore, the USOC reserves use of Olympic terminology and trademarks to our official sponsors, suppliers and licensees.  The patterns and projects featuring the Olympic Symbol on Ravelry.com’s website are not licensed and therefore unauthorized.  The USOC respectfully asks that all such patterns and projects be removed from your site.
For your convenience, we have listed some of the patterns featuring Olympic trademarks.  However, this list should be viewed as illustrative rather than exhaustive.  The USOC requests that all patterns involving Olympic trademarks be removed from the website.  We further request that  you rename various patterns that may not feature Olympic trademarks in the design but improperly use Olympic in the pattern name.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/olympics-rings-af...\
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vancouver-2010-ol...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/2010-olympics-inu...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/olympic-swimmer-d...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/2008-olympic-ring...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/olympic-rings-nec...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bode-miller-hat-2...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/usa-olympic-hat
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/belgianwaffleknit/usa-oly...
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.  We would appreciate a written reply to this letter by no later than June 19, 2012.  If you would like to discuss this matter directly, please feel free to contact me at the number above, or you may reach my colleague, Carol Gross.
Kindest Regards,
B**** ******
Law Clerk
Office of the General Counsel
United States Olympic Committee
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909

Our CodeMonkey is talking to Rav's lawyers about this.  And frankly, the person who sent this is an intern.  I'm not gonna post his name.  It's out there if you really want it.

Now, let's get down to what has two million people...cranky.  We understand the copyright infringement.  Although, the pin thing they're mentioning?  Is something started back in '08 again, and I'm pretty sure that proceeds went to Special Olympics.  And knowing my fellow fiber addicts, the same for '10, and probably again for this year as well.  I don't know for certain, so I refuse to say one way or another.

What pissed us the hell off in a large, large way was this:

  Changing the name of the event, the “Ravelympics.”;  The athletes of Team USA have usually spent the better part of their entire lives training for the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games and represent their country in a sport that means everything to them.  For many, the Olympics represent the pinnacle of their sporting career.  Over more than a century, the Olympic Games have brought athletes around the world together to compete in an event that has come to mean much more than just a competition between the world’s best athletes.  The Olympic Games represent ideals that go beyond sport to encompass culture and education, tolerance and respect, world peace and harmony.

The USOC is responsible for preserving the Olympic Movement and its ideals within the United States.  Part of that responsibility is to ensure that Olympic trademarks, imagery and terminology are protected and given the appropriate respect.  We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games.  In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.

I'm sorry, but, uhm, don't you need to give respect before you get it?  How in the HELL is knitting while most of us watch the games 'denigrate' said athletes?  Quite frankly, do you know how much time actually goes into an afghan or a sweater?  Frankly, neither do I.  That's not the point.  The point is this person, who is representing the USOC, is being disrespectful, showing no tolerance, and definitely no damned harmony when it comes to a bunch of ravelers who just want to have some organized fun.  It's a two week long (I think) world-wide stitch'n'bitch, folks!  There are no medals!  If there's prizes it's on a team-by-team case.  In fact, one team I'm participating with is giving away some prizes, the other isn't.  The prizes aren't the damned point!  The sense of community is!

This has pissed me off so completely, that I feel that an Oatmeal-styled response is needed for the idiocy.  Instead of making something for myself, I think I might plan on some chemo caps, some stuffed animals for kids at the local Shriner's hospital, maybe talk to fellow local knitters about a group project for a no-kill shelter, possibly something for a women's shelter, or more hats for a homeless shelter.  Anything that can go to charity is going to be my goal.

Screw the asshats who think we'll just 'yeah whatever'.  Dudes, we've got an author bribing Steven Colbert with hand kit socks if he takes the story.  Gawker has, umpteen billion blogs by my fellow knitters have typed up their feelings (yeah, call me a sheep, whatever.  They provide me with fiber) along with me.  Twitter has blown up over this stupid bit of what feels like moronic litigation.  I won't touch facebook, but I know that's a shitstorm.

Frankly, USOC, if you wanted us to change the name, all you have to do is ask nicely.  By denigrating us?  You just look like a dick.

Knitters are left and right wing, along with right down the center.  We are both religious and non, single and married, have kids and don't have kids, go to protests and don't give a crap, we enjoy sports and could care less about some, we are gamers and non, geeks and not, we have PhD's and GED's, the list goes on.  In fact, I can sum it up thanks to Joe of Popculturezoo.com, who has a knitter for a wife: