Ravelympics 2010

We've all been recovering from the crafting marathon that was Ravelympics 2010 so we're a bit late in posting about it! The Ravelympics is a time to set a goal of seeing a crochet, knitting, spinning, or dying project through from beginning to end (or reviving a work in progress) during the Olympics. The training was intense, trying to decide what to make and which event to enter, and the competition itself flew by much faster than most of us anticipated.

In the end, of the 9,538 Ravelers that took on the challenge, 6,296 earned their Medal of GLORY (and many others came really, really close)! Starting a project knowing that over 9,000 other folks were starting alongside you during the opening ceremonies was an incredible experience. The support found in the more than 440 teams kept everyone going even when they experienced setbacks and injuries.

There are a few folks who made all of these fun festivities possible. We'd like to thank the Ravelympics Moderators, Kimberli, msknottyknits, paksenarrion, rchrispy, and zzwhitejd for their hard work in choosing events, keeping the teams and group going and spending countless hours assisting Ravelers in their pursuit of Ravelympic glory. Also, a big thanks to the Team Captains for keeping your teams going and to each Raveler who participated! This truly would not have been the same without each of you! In addition to having a lot of fun, Ravelympics also raised money for Special Olympics through the sell of our Badge of Glory pins (awesome artwork by octagonfudge). So far, $3,200 has been sent to Special Olympics thanks to your purchase of the pins! If you didn't get a chance to buy your Badge of Glory, go to the Badge of Glory product page and click on the little box beside "notify me when this item is re-stocked". Then, you'll receive a Ravelry message when we have more available! A big thanks to the folks at Sprocket Express, our fulfillment center, who have gotten these pins out to our Ravthletes so quickly! Casey ran some fun post-game stats for us to share with you so you can share in some of your fellow Ravelers' achievements, some of which are included below! Overall Achievements

Total projects entered into the Ravelympics - 24,284
Total projects completed by closing ceremonies - 12,878
Number of countries participating - 65
Total yardage used - 8,068,000
Total yardage spun/dyed - 448,000

Team Achievements

Team ORANGE Knitting (25 members) finished 29 out of 30 projects
Team Canada finished the most projects, 392, and also used the most yarn, 188,000+ yards!
Teams Finland (272 projects) and Germany (253 projects) finished the 2nd and 3rd most

Ravthletes with the most projects completed

GrammyLove - 33
CoffeeAndCream - 32
tinkknitz, airmidm and Anethemadevice - 26

Most Prolific Spinners & Hand-dyers (by yards completed)

KnitCave - 15,700 yards
annryan - 10,700 yards
rebeltrouser and mrspie - 8,600 yards
Spiro - 8,300 yards

Congratulations to all who competed! Even if you didn't cross the finish line in time, it was a fun way to challenge ourselves and get to know our fellow Ravelers! We're already looking forward to the next games in the Summer of 2012! Comments....