Welcome to the 2020 2021 Ravellenics!

It’s time for our favorite bi-annual fiber challenge as we get ready to cheer on the athletes at the Tokyo Games starting on July 23.

What are the Ravellenic  Games?

Ravelry started hosting what were originally called the Ravelympics. This was a challenge to crafters with simple rules: cast on a project during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and try to finish your project by the closing ceremonies. For prizes you got the thrill of a finished object, a nifty badge for your Ravelry profile, and hopefully a lot of fun.

But then in 2011 the US Olympic Committee claimed that the Ravelympics was an infringement on the copyrights of the USOC, and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Ravelry. In this original letter the USOC claimed that the use of Ravelympics would “denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games” and could be seen as disrespectful to our athletes. Only a name change and the removal of any patterns using similar logos would settle this.

Crafters, as we should all know by now, are a proud and vocal community, and we aren’t afraid to stand up for ourselves. Thousands of knitters and crocheters pushed back and called out the USOC for this letter, and after much public discussion and a lot of press coverage, the USOC publicly apologized. Ravelry also agreed to change the name. After much community discussion and voting the Ravelympics became the Ravellenic Games, a tribute to the original Olympics- the Hellenic Games. Ever since the London 2012 Games we have cast on for the Ravellenics.

This year, we are marking the pushed back 2020 games in Tokyo. It has been a long, hard journey for everyone- athletes and spectators alike. The Games have been pushed an entire year for COVID-19, and concerns continue about global health. As of now, Japan has banned spectators for public safety, and some of our favorite rising star athletes will be unable to compete.

The Games, and our participation as crafters, has never been without controversy. There is a part of that USOC letter that captures what we can work towards as the games begin: “The Olympic Games represent ideals that go beyond sport to encompass culture and education, tolerance and respect, world peace and harmony.” In that spirit, we have our Ravellenics Team ready to go!

How to join:

You can join the group here.   We will start posting suggested projects for each event in the coming days.

• Pick an event, create project page with special tags, and cast on with thousands of your fellow Raveletes to compete. That’s it in a nutshell.
• Official Start Time: 12 am your local time on Friday, July 23
• Official End time: 11:59:59 pm your local time on Sunday, August 8. Each Ravellenics project must be marked Finished on the project page prior to the ending time in order to qualify for a medal.

Local love!

Join us in celebrating some of Alexandria’s own as they represent Team USA!

Noah Lyles, a graduate of Alexandria City High School, is part of the USA Track and Field team

Troy Isley is competing in boxing, and a member of the Alexandria Boxing Club.

Our hometown Olympians have worked hard, and we’re excited to cheer them on.

Join our team!

• Jump into our Ravelry group to get our official Ravatar, read all the details and share what you plan to make.
• Come hang in our shop for a special Ravellenics Stitch in Space on Friday, July 23rd between 11 am and 8 pm.
• Preorder our special team pin! It will arrive during the Ravellenic Games.