ETA: Thanks to the wonders of Twitter, I have discovered the fabulousness of a number of designers who are donating some of their pattern sales to various organizations supporting the human rights of LGBT people around the world. Bristol Ivy has a post that says everything I wanted to say below, only better. And she's got a list of the designers, so go check out their designs, get some new patterns for the Games and support
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The Ravellenic Games begin today, and I am feeling remarkably blah about the whole thing. If you haven't heard of this event, it is a crafting challenge that coincides with the Olympics (both Winter and Summer). Crafters set themselves a goal project that can be started once the Opening Ceremonies begin, but has to be completed by the end of the Closing Ceremonies.
The first year that I participated in (what was then known as) The Knitting Olympics, I set out to knit my first lace shawl. It was incredibly exciting and fun, and a great challenge to take the headlong plunge in to lace that I'd been so leery of. I got maybe halfway through it over the course of the games, so no medal for me.
In 2010, I tried again (this time with vast quantities of Fair Isle), but again - no medal. And this year?
This year I have a lot of thoughts about the Olympics, but none of them are particularly happy. I am not happy about where they are being held for a number of reasons. I'm shocked by the fact that not only are these going to be the most expensive Olympic Games in history, but some of the venues aren't even finished. And I'm sad because the last Olympics were so wonderful (as they were held in London) that I guess I'm feeling a bit of a hangover from lack of Olympic spirit. Most importantly I am bitterly, bitterly disturbed and disappointed that a number of the athletes attending these games would be targeted and tormented and persecuted and potentially killed if they were honest about their lives and their identities. And while I think President Obama naming openly gay athletes to the delegation representing him at the Olympics is a nice gesture, it falls way below the level of protest that needs to happen.
So...I'm not doing a Ravellenic Games project. I have some absolutely fantastic "Mind the Gap" sportweight yarn from Trailing Clouds that might become a hat or some fingerless mitts (in the rainbow spirit of things).
I have a sweater's lot of handspun Portuguese Merino/Targhee that I have plans for but haven't done anything about. I have an Unravel sweater to finish. There are also upcoming design commissions that I have to do, so it's not like there's NOT going to be any knitting around, it just won't be Olympic knitting.
All this has left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, and absolutely zero excitement about watching the Olympics. No matter how amazing the event, and how much I love skiing and biathlon and a host of other winter sports, the fact that there is so much just plain wrong with the Sochi games is pretty much sabotaging my enthusiasm. It's really, really too bad.
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The Ravellenic Games begin today, and I am feeling remarkably blah about the whole thing. If you haven't heard of this event, it is a crafting challenge that coincides with the Olympics (both Winter and Summer). Crafters set themselves a goal project that can be started once the Opening Ceremonies begin, but has to be completed by the end of the Closing Ceremonies.
The first year that I participated in (what was then known as) The Knitting Olympics, I set out to knit my first lace shawl. It was incredibly exciting and fun, and a great challenge to take the headlong plunge in to lace that I'd been so leery of. I got maybe halfway through it over the course of the games, so no medal for me.
In 2010, I tried again (this time with vast quantities of Fair Isle), but again - no medal. And this year?
This year I have a lot of thoughts about the Olympics, but none of them are particularly happy. I am not happy about where they are being held for a number of reasons. I'm shocked by the fact that not only are these going to be the most expensive Olympic Games in history, but some of the venues aren't even finished. And I'm sad because the last Olympics were so wonderful (as they were held in London) that I guess I'm feeling a bit of a hangover from lack of Olympic spirit. Most importantly I am bitterly, bitterly disturbed and disappointed that a number of the athletes attending these games would be targeted and tormented and persecuted and potentially killed if they were honest about their lives and their identities. And while I think President Obama naming openly gay athletes to the delegation representing him at the Olympics is a nice gesture, it falls way below the level of protest that needs to happen.
So...I'm not doing a Ravellenic Games project. I have some absolutely fantastic "Mind the Gap" sportweight yarn from Trailing Clouds that might become a hat or some fingerless mitts (in the rainbow spirit of things).
I have a sweater's lot of handspun Portuguese Merino/Targhee that I have plans for but haven't done anything about. I have an Unravel sweater to finish. There are also upcoming design commissions that I have to do, so it's not like there's NOT going to be any knitting around, it just won't be Olympic knitting.
All this has left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, and absolutely zero excitement about watching the Olympics. No matter how amazing the event, and how much I love skiing and biathlon and a host of other winter sports, the fact that there is so much just plain wrong with the Sochi games is pretty much sabotaging my enthusiasm. It's really, really too bad.
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