Trend analysis, the collaboration edition

Many thanks to the commenters on last week's post. As someone who has done limited colorwork and as someone who did not watch the Olympics (I know, gasp!), I was constrained in my ability to explain that particular pattern in the data. Colorwork often requires more attention to both a pattern and the process of knitting - which distracts from watching the curling gold medal round (thanks, Kristy). Further, there really isn't a current must-knit colorwork pattern (thanks, Teresa). Finally, lace knitting may be an upward trend these days, thus it would be well-represented in the Ravelympics (thanks, Kimberli).

Kimberli also pointed out some differences between Ravelympics 2010 (winter edition) and Ravelympics 2008 (summer edition). Socks were quite popular in 2008, which seems reasonable given the season, the heat (at least in the northern hemisphere), and the travel. Socks are light, portable and go well with the beach, barbecues and fireworks.

I truly think the February Lady Sweater represents a first sweater project for many knitters - thus the appearance in both the 2010 and 2008 Ravelympics. What is it that makes the FLS so approachable that it is consistently queued in Ravelympics? It is knit in one piece and the shaping is minimal - and there is lace!

Finally, my thanks to the visitors this week - see below for the impact of a friend tagging a post on the Ravelympics discussion board on website traffic! I hope you enjoyed my analysis and follow-up. Return next week when I explore my neighbors on Ravelry!