The "-ympics"

I'll raise my crochet hook in the air to be counted as one of those "angry" crafters who recently took to social media to vent frustration with the recent actions of United States Olympic Committee.  For those not aware, a brief recap:

On the Ravelry.com website, there is a "Ravelympics" held every two years.  Participants are asked to push their crochet and knitting skills to new heights while watching the 16-day Olympics.  I have never participated in the Ravelympics, but I do watch the Olympics, and in fact, still have recordings going back some 20+ years THAT I STILL WATCH!

The USOC sent what they called a "standard" cease-and-desist letter to the owners of Ravelry -- the letter requests the stopping of the use of the Olympic symbol AND demanding the name of "Ravelympics" be changed.  I have no problem with the USOC protecting the Olympic logo, or the "Olympic" name.  If permission wasn't granted for using them, then it should be stopped.

The problems I have are two-fold:

A) "-ympics."  Do they own the right to these letters?  That's like saying the Ford motor company owns the right to "-ord." Or, if you want to compare non-profit with a non-profit, like saying Save The Children (remember the "Caps to the Capital" campaign?) owns the rights to "-ldren."   I've yet to read anything rational on this.  Of course, if this is allowed, I'm proclaiming ownership to "-ziano," you know, just in case I become world-famous for crochet hook twirling, or something along those lines.

B) the wording in their "standard" cease-and-desist letter that included this paragraph that I found to be "discriminating":

USOlympics Vs Ravelympics: Intellectual Property vs Slurs?

 "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."

          The USCO did apologize - twice - for the language they used.  The first apology was not easily digested by crafters because the it included a request for "... any handmade items that you would like to create to travel with, and motivate, our team at the 2012 Games."  [Link to both apologies.]  When my kids apologize for something, they would never think of following it up with "... and can I have 20 bucks for the movies?"  Naturally if  the USOC finds this type of apology works, I might start apologizing for things like "...sorry your lawn grew and you have to mow it. You can send me some yarn if you'd like."


The story of The USOC vs the Ravelympics was first picked up by the Gawker, and then others followed:

• http://gawker.com/5920036/us-olympics-committee-is-mad-at-knitting-olympics-for-denigrating-real-athletes
• http://www.stylelist.com/2012/06/21/knitting-olympics-2012_n_1615715.html
• http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/06/usoc-london-2012-knitting-controversy/1
• http://gawker.com/5920315/us-olympic-committee-apologizes-to-knitters-but-knitters-will-not-be-appeased
• http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/u-s-o-c-knits-a-controversy/

My participation on this topic was in tweeting out some yarnie facts on the Twitter social site:

• There are 17.4 MILLION crocheters, and 13.0 MILLION knitters.  Actually, this is "households of" but that's ok.  That's still a lot of folks playing with yarn.  Even though Ravelry has 2 MILLION members, once this went viral, it was time to look at the bigger picture.
• of the 17.4 MILLION crocheters, they open their wallets to reportedly spend 1.064 BILLION US dollars on their love of crochet goodies -- these facts were published by the CHA in 2010.
• Three Crocheted Lions will be part of the 2012 Cultural Olypiad: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17915318

... and then some sport-sy facts:

• Guinness World Records officially issued “The Fastest Crocheter Title” to Lisa Gentry on June 25, 2005
• Guinness World Record Holder for Fastest Knitter was earned by Miriam Tegels in 2008
• The Guinness world record for the Most People Knitting Simultaneously was set in 2011
• The Guinness World Record for the Most People Crocheting Simultaneously was set in 2010 in USA!  (hey, I was there!)
• Guinness World Record Holder for Longest Crochet Chain Whilst Running a Marathon went to Susie Hewer in 2010

... for those reporting on the USOlympic vs Ravelympics saga (because I'm tired of seeing articles stating "little old ladies"):

• CYCA reports 92% of crocheters & knitters R UNDER 65 yrs old. http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/know.html
• CYCA reports 66% of crocheters & knitters R UNDER 54 yrs old. http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/know.html

... and my biggest concerns:

• how this might impact crochet & knit donations to the Special Olympics http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/files/upload_file_847993722.pdf
• crafters might boycott watching the Olympics, missing out on the finest amateur athletes in the world.

My bottom line: If deemed legal, I think the name "Ravelympics" should remain; no one is profiting from it (one of the USOC's concerns), and it actually helps promote the Olympics in a postitve way.  And I think that the US Olympic Committee should revisit their "standard" letters to ensure future language used is not inappropriate.

Out of this entire saga, I did learn something new:  The Wenlock Olympian Society, now known as the International Olympic Committee, once included knitting, as well as reading and spelling.  I can't help but wonder if "-ympics" was part of the spelling .........

Did I mention it's yellow?



"Yellow" needs a a better name.

Sometimes it is hard to resist a yarn sale.  Such as in the case when Leslie of WoolMountainDestash announced on Twitter she had some yummies for sale. LOL  From her stash came 10 balls of Lemon Yellow Moda Dea Baby Talk yarn. 

My problem: not a big fan of the color yellow. 
My solution: listen to the yarn!

We were going through several raw days of spring rain when I decided to listen to the yarn. I had no pattern, no preconceived ideas of what I was going to crochet.  I was merely the hands holding the hook and the yarn.  The rest, I think, is pure magic. 

Once the body was completed I needed a border.  I was thinking my father secretly wanted it, as I found him eyeing it repeatedly as I worked my stitches. Thinking this, I wanted to find a "boxy" (manly) looking border.  This led me to Edie Echman's book, "Around the Corner Crochet Borders;" where I took one of the border patterns and "complicated" it to look like lattice work.  In fact, I complicated the border so much, I had to work 2 rows at a time to ensure everything went smoothly!

And maybe this all went too smoothly.  You know what I mean: the coming together of the yarn, the hook, and the stitch. Did I mention it's yellow?  And did I mention Mr. Dee now has his eye on it too???

Maybe the color yellow isn't as bad as I had originally thought.  If my journey in the fiber world has taught me anything it is: be prepared for personal growth.  Me & yellow - buddies!  Who knew!?  :)

Lost & Found

Buffalo Skies yarn.

It has been a very busy time here, with my mother's visit from Florida to the winding down of the kids school year (just one more week for them & they'll be out for the summer!).  This does not mean my crocheting has been idle.  No, not all all.

While my mother was visiting I crocheted (by special request) nearly a half-dozen hats for her to wear under her motorcycle helmet.  And, I managed to work up a project that I am currently calling "yellow" -- there will be a posting on this project in the future.

Amish-style swift, made in China.

And, I got two new toys:  an "Amish-style" yarn swift and a food scale (to be used for measuring the weight of my yarn).  Plus, hot in the mail today was some yummy buffalo yarn!  Mmmmm!

weighs more than the
100 grams on the label.

About a month ago I started a discussion on Ravelry about "missing yardage."  The topic was brought on by my recent usage of a "yarn meter."  The meter was reporting I was off by some 60 to 107 yards per hank.  I was in shock at this and wanted to know if others had ever experienced the same results.  Fortunately for me, I got a lot of helpful tips:


The first tip was to buy a food scale.  I decided on the Cuisinart model ks-55.  It normally retails for about $40, but I got it for free utilizing some "cash back bucks" offered through my credit card.  Thus far, I really like it.  I was advised to weigh the yarn first.  The label reads the net weight for my new yarn was 100 grams.  I am happy to report that all 3 hanks weighed over the 100 grams benchmark -- without the label.

questioning the footage

using the electric ball winder
with the new yarn swift.

The second step was to run the yarn through the meter.  I got on average 466 feet.  I convert this into yardage and get 155 yards -  not the 200 yards as stated on the label.
 

I was then advised to hand-measure off 10 yards and run it through the meter.  I did.  I got almost 26 feet -- not the 30 feet I was expecting.  (1 yard = 3 feet -or- 10 yards = 30 feet.)  So there is a problem with the yarn meter!  Oy!  The meter was shorting me 4 feet for every 10 yards!


The next step was to find out the intervals for the shorting.  I took the 155 yards and divided it by 10 (yards).  This gave me 15.5 intervals.  I multiplied that by the 4 feet to get 62 feet.  I then took the original measurement of 466 feet and added the "missing" 62 feet = 528 feet.  Convert that to yards and I got 176! 

Yes, I know, the 176 yards is not equal to the 200 on the label, but I do have to account for the dye used in the yarn.  The more dye, the heavier the yarn and thus the less footage/yardage for the money.  I am much happier with the 176 yardage than the 155 the meter initially reported. 

This is a learning process for me.  At the very least it reinforces the adage: when in doubt, always buy at least one ball/hank more of the same dye lot than what the pattern calls for.  :)

Fake Crochet

Want a closer look at "machine-made crochet?" Click onto image to enlarge.

I think it is amazing the amount of curiosity around "machine made crochet."  I have discussed this topic here several times, the last time being last summer: Crochet Machines?

Here it is, nearly a year later from that last blog post, and nothing has changed.  Crochet still remains one of the last fiber-art forms that must be made by human hands.  This means those little doilies you see in the craft stores for a dollar, to garments at Walmart to Macy's, they are all made by human hands -- NOT by machine.

The closest I've ever found is an oval table cloth, made of plastic, with the crochet pineapple motif stamped on it (see picture above).  I have owned this table cloth for about 10 (or more) years, and of yet to ever see another in-person.  From time to time I will bring it to crochet demonstrations I volunteer for to show the closest I've ever seen what a machine can produce. It's fake.  Want to see other samples of fake crochet?  Go to google.com, click onto "images" and then search for "pvc crochet table cloth."

Measuring Up

Mini~Dee models "Delta Lace Topper"
at HHCC Monthly Meeting.

A few days ago I finished hand-crocheting a Delta Lace Topper, designed by Karen Whooley; her pattern is featured in the booklet, "Delta Lace Crochet."  Although I modified the pattern (I added a few increases to make it slightly larger, added one additional row, and changed the collar), it was a lot of fun to do -- seductively so.  [[All the details, including my notes I took about the project as I went along can be seen on my Ravelry projects page here.]]

The initial plan was to use all three hanks of the Jade yarn I blogged about last month. It turns out I had more than enough of the lighter color of Jade that I didn't need to blend in the darker.  This means I have one full "Jade" left, and one partially used.  Unfortunately, I don't know how much of the partially used remains.  This could be a problem when deciding upon a future project with this most-delicious yarn.

I decided to give my yarn meter a run for its money.  I took the meter out of the box, found it easy to set up, and within minutes (while rewinding the leftover yarn into a new yarn cake) I knew exactly how much yarn I had left: 465 feet.  I then converted the feet into yards: 155 yards.  [[1 foot = 0.333333333 yards]]  Wow!  What a handy little tool!

Yarn Meters are Needed by Crocheters too!
**Crochet hook by Brainsbarn.com, featured on my HooksNStitches blog here.

What else can I learn with this gadget?  I decided to rewind the darker Jade.  The label states that it is 420 yards.  Knowing yarn is really sold by weight and not by length, I wondered just how close I'd come to the 420 yards.  As I hand-cranked the yarn winder, it wasn't long until I had my measurement: 1065 feet.  This converted to 355 yards.  A difference of 65 yards!!!  That's huge!! While I am not surprised that I actually got less yardage as I understand the darker the yarn, the more dye it takes, thus throwing off the yarn weight -- I was very surprised the number was this high.  Now I'm wishing I had pre-measured the length of the lighter Jade before I started my project.  What would it have shown? 

The clever meter is a product of NNK: NancysKnitKnacks.com -- there are various local yarn shops selling it.  It retails for about $49 - $55, a bit pricey to be considered a crocheter's "toy," but as a working tool, I think it is well worth the investment.  Going forward, this 'lil device will be out of its box to measure yarn as I wind it from hank to cake (or ball), and then when I'm done with a project to determine how much yarn remains.

Of course, if you feel you need an electronic version of this yarn meter, one does exist.  On NNK's site it currently retails for $269, and includes a sleep mode after five minutes of inactivity.  I'm not sure I'm ready for an electric version, but it is super cool looking.  :)

Best 25th Anniversary Gift - Evah!

Applewood crochet hook will make a full recovery.

This month marks the 25th year Mr Dee and I are together.  I don't think he had a clue back when he asked me out on that first date that his life (and home!) would eventually be consumed by crochet.  No, back then, I was working full-time while going to school full-time; every three months escaping reality by taking mini-holidays over extended weekends for some RnR.  Other days he helped fill my world with rides on his motorcycle, impromptu picnics, encouraging me to wind surf, and of course the snow skiing...

I know what you're thinking: "What's with the picture, Dee?  That's not so romantic!"

Oh, but isn't it??

When you spend 25 years with someone you get to know what pleases them most.  I was crushed -absolutely so! - when I opened my project bag and found my Brainsbarn custom crochet hook, crafted out of applewood from our own back yard -- broken!  I really love this crochet hook.

Mr Dee saw how distressed I was.  He said he, "...could rebuild him ... [he] has the technology..."  Yes, cue the theme music from the popular 1970s television show, The Six Million Dollar Man.  My hook was broken in half.  I put my trust in him and handed the hook over.

Late last night Mr Dee told me I could see my hook, that it will recover from this most unfortunate accident.  I was so happy.  This man, regardless of the many times he's tripped over my vast yarn stash, or had to push a project aside on the sofa so he could sit down, has been dragged to conferences, and volunteered to appear in a crochet video ...  just smiles through it all, knowing it makes me happy.  I am thrilled my hook has been repaired.  Now that I know he's a skilled crochet hook surgeon, I have a few more patients for him.  But that can wait; we have an anniversary to celebrate.  :)

"The Truth is Out There" ... 7.00 mm

On May 1st I mentioned ID tags that I had purchased at the Connecticut Sheep & Wool Festival -- and I noted that there seemed to be a problem with having a complete set.  After receiving a few inquires for more information, I decided to post what information I have here:

Crochet Hook by Brainsbarn.com; See blog entry "Jaded" for yarn info.

How one could have been lost: After purchasing the ID tags, as I started to walk away from the booth, somehow one of the ID packages had slipped out of my bag of goodies, spilling onto the floor.  ID's went everywhere.  Since the package did not state it contains X number of IDs, I had no idea how many I should be searching for on the floor, including under the many feet of other attendees.  Once I got home I inspected the bag and noticed the side seam of the ID packaging was never factory sealed.  So the missing tag could have been from me not seeing it on the floor, or it could have been lost somewhere between India (location of manufacture) and the LYS that sold it to me.  No matter how you look at it, it is a lost ID tag.

The other "missing" tag I think is more direct in being a manufacturing/packaging issue.  On the KnitPicks website, they show the ID tags as a package of 12 ID's:  3.50 mm, 3.75 mm, 4.00 mm, 4.50 mm, 5.00 mm, 5.50 mm, 6.00 mm, 6.50 mm, 8.00 mm, 9.00 mm, 10.00 mm, and 12.00 mm.  However, based upon merging my two packages together, there's really a "baker's dozen" of sizes available. A "baker's dozen" means 13.  The 13th size is 7.00 mm (U.S.10 3/4).

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos stated on one of the Ancient Aliens shows (currently airing on the History 2 channel) that the measuring of distance and time in segments of 12 may have come from aliens, which I take from that it was humans who developed the metric system.  Crochet hooks have long been measured by metric sizes up until their arrival to the US.  ((does this mean it was aliens responsible for changing the sizing of US hooks to numbers and letters, thus solving the mystery on how the U.S. numbering/lettering sizing all got started???  Has the mystery finally been solved??))

Questioning this further, the Craft Yarn Council's guide on knitting needles & crochet hooks shown on their YarnStandards.com page has nothing listed for size 7.00 mm crochet hooks or knitting needles. I love the CYCA; they're trying to regulate the craft so we can all play from the same playbook.  Still, I have to wonder why would they not have anything listed for 7.00 mm??  Perhaps I should ask *Fox Mulder what he thinks. (*reference to the X-files tv show that aired during the 1990s).  Or I could act like Dana Skully, applying scientific reasoning to this issue simply by emailing KnitPicks for an explaination.  But where's the fun in that?  lol

Will that extra size ID tag go to waste?  I don't think so.  With so many of my crochet hooks hand-turned, I'm sure it will come in handy, representing a hook or two in my collection.  And, along with my new Hook Size Gauge device (also mentioned on May 1st), the 7.00 mm size does exist, so "the truth is out there."  All you need to do is measure it. :)