Angry Knitters Invade U.S. Olympic Committee Facebook Page After Knitting Olympics Diss
Do not provoke the online knitting community—they're like Anonymous with pointy sticks. Knitters show no sign of relenting in their online rage against the U.S. Olympic Committee, after the USOC slighted all who love fiber arts. They've practically taken over the official USOC Facebook page.
Yesterday we reported on how the U.S. Olympic Committee sent a cease & desist letter to the knitting social network Ravelry, demanding they change the name of an Olympic-themed knitting competition called the "Ravelympics." That wasn't all: The USOC couldn't help but get a dig in against crafters, claiming the knitting olympics "denigrated" the hard work of athletes in the real Games.
But the knitters are organized. Ravelry has 2 million members, and a good portion of them have spent the last 24 hours flooding the USOC's official Facebook page in protest.
"I cannot believe you call what I do, something that takes thousands of hours of hard work to achieve, skill, time and energy, a denigration of what you do," wrote Libi Lou. "I work hard to get lovely results in my knitting and spinning. I get something in the end. I'm sorry, but maybe what your athletes do denigrates what I do. Because they get nothing. They have nothing to show." Ouch. Take that, Michael Phelps.
Some point out that the page currently promotes a fundraiser that lets people "buy a stitch" of the American flag that the US Olympic team will take to London.
"It is ironic that this page is Selling a Stitch on the American Flag," wrote Kathleen Nelson. "Stitches are a Fiber art."
Others are calling for a boycott.
The USOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Someone should go check on them and make sure they're not tied up in the basement with rib stitched handcuffs made of chunky Alpaca yarn.
