I competed in the first ever CROCHET OLYMPICS! (in Leesburg, FL)
- Priscilla W.
- Apr 28
- 8 min read
As a lover of crochet, people, and a little friendly competition... When I heard of the Crochet Olympics in a local Florida Facebook crochet group, I knew I had to go.
I'm not the fastest crocheter. I've seen some of the fastest. I am not them. They go so fast, there's no more joy in the craft 🤣 But, I'm pretty fast. So, when I saw that there was going to be a speed chain and speed granny square competition, it was time to go prove myself! Or so I thought.
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This amazing, crochet, community event was started and organized by Paula, owner of Paula's Craft Shop. The event was held at the Leesburg Public Library in, you guessed it, Leesburg, Florida!
It was a spectacular 3 hours FULL of laughter, super talented crocheters, fast stitching, tossing things, super unique crochet pieces/projects(on people and on display), maybe some yelling(all in good fun), and so much more!
In this little blog/expose, I'm going to share with you:
The WHY behind the Crochet Olympics.
What the competitions/categories were.
All about community~
The winners of each category! And my times for the speed challenges~
Plans for next year?
Maybe some extras in-between 🙃 (what can I say? I have the gift of gab)
So *twirls finger* let's get into it! Or roll into it... 🤣 Laugh at my puns!
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Rather watch the video? Watch it here --> https://youtu.be/gDfcrFuXgks
Let's start with the WHY.
I could try my best to paraphrase what Paula already said so eloquently, but I won't. I'll give it to you straight from one of her FIRST posts on the Crochet Olympics Facebook Page.
Just in case your images aren't loading, here's what she said:
Welcome to the Crochet Olympics!
"The Crochet Olympics is a celebration of
creativity, community, and the art of crochet.
This special event brings together talented
crocheters and dedicated volunteers to
empower women, share skills, and spread the
love of fiber arts.
Contestants will showcase their craftsmanship
through fun, friendly competitions, while our
volunteers work behind the scenes to make the
magic happen. Together, we are weaving more
than yarn--we're weaving connection,
confidence, and creativity.
Whether you're competing, volunteering, or
cheering from the sidelines, thank you for being
part of this unforgettable journey. Let's stitch,
laugh, and celebrate the beauty of crochet-
Olympic style!"
Right??? Who wouldn't want to attend an event like this? It was open to competitors, spectators, family, friends, whoever wanted to come and enjoy community together in a magical atmosphere.
I invited my sister so far in advance I forgot that I told her about it. 🤣 When the event was near, she was like, "You're still going right?!" And I was like... "How did you know about it?"
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Anyways, my husband, sisters, niece, and I, traveled a couple hours to attend. I was the only one of us who competed, but they cheered me on the whole time!
Speaking of competing, let's talk about all the competitive events The Crochet Olympics had in store for us!
Disclaimer: I didn't compete in all the events. You didn't have to compete in all the events. You chose what you wanted to do in advance, and sent in an application to Paula's email. Then, they printed out a sheet with your name on it, that you picked up day-of, and were able to check off what you did as you went, and write down your scores, time, etc.!
This was nice because I LEGIT forgot everything I signed up for, hahaha!
Here were the challenges. The image below has the rules for each event:
Speed Granny Square
Speed Chain Race
Blindfold Crochet
Freestyle Design Sprint (I jacked that one up, haha)
Yarn Winding Race
Symbol Identification (the only one I didn't do, haha)
Yarn Toss
Hook Toss
Fanciest Toss
Fan Favorite (bring-from-home crochet item)
Each event had a judge, or judges, and it's own set-up! I had originally thought that we would all be competing at one time for each event, but instead, you could go at your leisure to each station! It worked out great because there was a sizeable turnout, and the judges could judge more closely this way.
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Some stations did more than one event as well, for example the yarn, hook, and fanciest toss were done at different times at the same spot. It was announced when one event was going to close to start the next one, so no one missed any by accident.
The longest line had to be granny square speed challenge because there was no time limit, and everyone crochet's at different speeds. That was the first one I did. I wanted to get it out of the way because I was SO nervous. I practiced about three times total in the car on the way there to see what my average was. I'll let you know when I get to the part about the winners!
Make sure to check out my YouTube Video to see some of these challenges in action!
My favorite event was the speed chain race, it was short, sweet, and to the point! You only had a minute, I was super confident in my abilities, and I sped through that thang 🤣
My favorite competition to watch was the fanciest toss! Oh man, those crocheters had some GREAT moves(you'll see some in my YouTube Vlog about it)!
The most inspiring was the Fan Favorite! I beheld so many beautiful crochet projects, and the winner of that one was SO well-deserved!
The most difficult (based on feedback) had to be the Blindfold Challenge! I heard that some people gave up entirely!
Honorable Mentions - The Yarn Winding Challenge was crazy! Especially when people dropped their yarn ball! It was a scramble, haha! And the Speed Granny Square Challenge was the one I was looking forward to the most!
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After the event, they sewed the granny squares together to make a blanket to donate to someone deserving! I'm not sure who yet, but I'll be doing an interview with the organizer, Paula, to see who it went to! (I made one of the gold ones!)
Everyone was so supportive of each and every person there. The Crochet Community is one of the best groups of people I've ever claimed to be a part of.
The crafters who came out to the Olympics were so sweet and uplifting!
We cheered each other on, talked about our projects, and connected over our shared love for crochet!
The talent in that room was awe-inspiring. I had so many fun chats and gawked at some amazing tops, cowls, and blankets!
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What really broke the ice was our "Walk of the Olympians." Each one of our bags had finger lights. We put them on, raised our hand in the air, and walked/danced into the room to kick-off the night! That was such a fun time, and you could really see some of the personalities start to show!
My sister isn't really involved in a crochet community in her city, so it was fun bringing her along to one neither of us had knew about!
I'm in a few in my area, but it's always so cool meeting new crocheters all over.
It's time. Let's talk about the winners!
Freestyle Design - Natalie Ratzke
Yarn Toss - Leanne Huanes
Speed Chain Race - Priscilla Mitchell (ME 😍)
Speed Granny Square - Natalie Ratzke
Fan Favorite - Elizabeth Eddy
Symbol Identification - Natalie Ratzke
Blind Fold Crochet - Stacy Minell
Yarn Winding Race -Donna DeClare
Hook Toss - Elizabeth Eddy
Fanciest Toss - Diane Burdess
Then they had Overall Medal Winners! These were based on the best scores overall!
🥇 Gold - Natalie Ratzke
🥈 Silver - Elizabeth Eddy
🥉 Bronze - Priscilla Mitchell (ME again!)
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All the winners deserved their win! Those tosses were hard, it's easy to mess up trying to crochet fast, and the fan-favorite speaks for itself!
--> As I mentioned earlier, I'll be interviewing the organizer, Paula, to get the times for the speed challenges so you 👀 can prepare for next time! Make sure to join my email list to get notified when that's out! But I can share mine with you now :)
I practiced my three round granny squares on the way to the event, and here were my times:
3 minutes and 32 seconds
3 minutes and 15 seconds
3 minutes and 39 seconds
Now, AT THE EVENT, because that's what actually counts. My time was 3 minutes and 23 seconds! It helps to have people cheer you on and not be in fast moving vehicle on the highway 🤣
I'm not gonna lie. I thought I had this event in the bag! So, I really want to know what Natalie's time was! Her fingers must have been like the Brightline! (If you know you know) 🚅
Now for the speed chain race, in one minute, I made a chain about 31 inches long! I don't know how many chains it was, but almost three feet/one yard is CRAZY.
My time for the blindfold challenge was 1 minute and 8 seconds! It's good, but I know I could have done it faster if I didn't second guess myself so much! I wish I could have watched more people do the challenge, I saw a few, and it was pretty fun and entertaining! :)
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Now the question you've all been waiting for... When's the next one? It may be sooner than you think!
I've been asked this question sooo many times on my Short Video about the event. As far as I know... there's definitely gonna be one next year!
BUT, Paula is creating a guide on how to host YOUR OWN Crochet Olympics where you are! This is why it may be sooner than you think! I'm going to get all the tea tomorrow when I interview her, and I'll let you know where to get the guide when I post about it here on my blog. So make sure you're subscribed to my Crochet Royalty email list(scroll down), and I'll send you the info straight to your inbox when it's published! (You can join below!)
UPDATE - The Guide is now available --> CLICK HERE
Remember to check out my VLOG about this event to see how it was first hand! --> https://youtu.be/gDfcrFuXgks
Here are some more MISC pictures from the event:
While reading this expose, I hope you felt like you were there competing, too! Make sure to join my email list to see when the next one is! Also, the Crochet Olympics Facebook Page will have updates as well!
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