An Open Letter to @USOlympic
You recently issued a statement to the owner of the website Ravelry.com calling for a removal of all Olympics and Ravelymics patterns and references.
I understand your desire to protect your copyright, but within that letter was also this segment:
“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.”
You are saying that a group of people centered around supporting, celebrating, and applauding the Olympic athletes through challenging themselves at their own craft are denigrating the Olympics.
Knitting is an age-old tradition. Through the love of yarn, fiber, and craft, women and men have found solace, creativity, friendship, and strength. It is not just a silly activity, it is not frivolous. People have recovered from injuries through knitting, they have coped with mental illness through knitting, they have found lasting connections through knitting.
That you would so blatantly insult that without knowing the people or history is mean-spirited and ignorant.
I will not be buying Olympic-themed products again, ever. I am intensely disappointed in you.
-Vanessa Clinton
