You, too, can join the Team Angstylvania knitting athletes.

In traditional fashion, the Angstylvanian government has failed to meet international deadlines for its athletes to officially compete in the Ravelympics. Athletes are encouraged to register with an official Ravelympics team if they want to compete for whatever it is that the Ravelympics is offering. However, Angstylvanian athletes can still indicate to their government that they are participating (on another team or not) by posting in the Team Angstylvania Ravelry group, and their government promises to reward a random medaling athelete with whatever they can scrape up by the time the Ravelympics ends.

To join Team Angstylvania, register with the Department of Overexerting Oneself by logging into Ravelry and becoming a member of our Team Angstylvania Ravelry group. Those who finish and provide a photo of their finished object will be eligible to win a goodie basket provided by The AntiCraft and our favorite LYS, ReBelle. Yes, this means you have to have a Ravelry account. No execptions. Get in the freakin' queue already! Yes, this means it is limited to knitting and crochet. We didn't make Ravelry; don't complain to us.

To officially participate in the Ravelympics, read more about the 2008 Knitting Olympics and follow Ravelry's instructions about joining an official team.

You do not have to officially participate in the Ravelympics to joing Team Angstylvania. All Team Angstylvania members who finish their challenge (whether or not they "medal" by Ravelympic standards) and submit a photo of their finished object will be entered into the goodie basket drawing. Photos can be posted to the Team Angstylvania Ravelry group or emailed to submit@theanticraft.com.

Display Angstylvanian pride!

Download a button:

Download an iron-on graphic (pdf format):

10" W x 7.5" H for white tshirt (full page)
7.5" W x 5" H for white tshirt (half page)

10" W x 7.5" H for black tshirt (full page)
7.5" W x 5" H for black tshirt (half page)
(Avery Dark T-Shirt Transfers is our recommenced iron-on transfer paper for black tshirts.)

Where's Angstylvania, you ask?

Let the travel experts at Lonely Planet answer that for us:

Angstylvania was founded in 1042 by sisters Agatka and Elizaveta Bezvkusnova. The girls were out searching for religious freedom, but luckily became bored with the idea and decided the best course of action was to take a nap. Being lazy girls, this was a very long nap, and by the time they woke up an entire city had grown up around them. This city, Morosovia, was the capital of the Angstylvanians, who made Agatka and Elizaveta their co-regents. For the first few days, the sisters toiled tirelessly, commissioning roads, sewers, and libraries to be built. But, as usual, they lost interest. Agatka turned inward, searching her soul for a purpose in life, which seemed to necessitate reams and reams of paper for documenting said search. Elizaveta decided to die from ennui, and locked herself in a tower, never to be heard from again.

The Angstilvanians weren't happy with their way of life, but they were satisfied with the rut the country was in. It was, if nothing else, predictable, and since their standard of living had improved slightly after the first flurry of activity from their monarchs, it would be too much trouble to have them replaced. Apathy now! was their rallying cry, or it would have been if they bothered to have one.

Travelers to Angstylvania should know the country has a primarily agricultural economy, relying on the cultivation of earwax, watercress, and sheep. It has been said that Angstylanians are avid knitters due to the high availability of wool, but this claim cannot be fully substantiated as no finished objects have ever been found, and unfinished woolen goods are so caked with earwax that it's difficult to say if they are knitted or not. The exact population of Angstylvania is not known either, since the government claims census-taking to be too exhausting, but there is a small, steady stream of immigrants as the occasional individual will wander in and not take the time to find his or her way back out. Most accounts place Angstylvania in Eastern Europe, though a strong faction believes it to be somewhere near Ohio.

"We'd have to care to finish."
- Svetlana Vyalostova, Team Angstylvania coach