That is the two sleeves, front and back of the polo shirt. They are a little hard to recognize, and I apologize for that, but for the next step in this project I have to get out the iron. And I just don’t want to.

The reason for this is actually pretty straightforward: I hate to iron. I have a very large backlog of un-ironed clothing (several articles are of a Hawaiian Shirt Nature and have been neglected since last summer). The backlog is in a pile in one of the chairs in my office. I’ve gotten to where I don’t even notice it anymore. The cats have been napping on it. I’ve considered donating the whole thing to Good Will to avoid it. When I get out the iron and the ironing board to flatten my polo shirt facings, I will be forced to address this issue. And I just don’t want to.

Instead, let’s talk for a second about the Dish Rag Tag forums. I am getting such a kick out of this! Only one team has no posts (you know who you are - for Shame!). If you are having any trouble figuring out how the forums work - just email me and I will give you a helping hand. Team Work and Communication is essential to Dish Rag Tag Glory! And I am certain that it will make your team captains feel much better if they hear from all of their team members.

Also: Y’all hurry up and come up with names! Team #So-And-So is just so uninspired.

PS In case your Team Captains haven’t told you yet, I am mailing the boxes to them first. You can start your strategizing with their home location!

For a few hours last night, Yarn Miracle had actually exceeded its bandwidth allotment. And it’s not like I have a tiny amount of bandwidth. It’s fixed now (obviously, since you are reading this). Michael says, “Why do you have to do popular things?” I said, “I had No Idea this would be popular.” He will feel better after coffee.

If these are the biggest problems we experience during this swap, I think we’re doing pretty good!

Much to The Miracle Household’s consternation and embarrassment, we are experiencing some weirdness with the forums this evening. It was fixed and then broken again and some people could post and some couldn’t. All of that appears to be resolved now! So post your little hearts out.

Thanks for you patience and to all of you who emailed us to let us know there was trouble. The part where the error message says “we have been notified about this problem” is a *gasp* lie! Michael has now turned on the feature that notifies him about errors. But dropping us an email about bugs is still a good idea (especially whopping bugs like the forums not working). Michael does this for a living and while he refuses to drop his Paying Clients to work on Dish Rag Tag full time, he is still able to give us a fair amount of attention and fix our problems in a timely fashion.

Kathy officially wins the Special Swap Race! In spite of the dozens of priority mail stickers my little post office lady used to cover the box I sent, Illinois mail service must just be faster.

Yay! All kinds of wonderful things!

The yarn is Rowan’s Denim (Nashville*) which I have wanted to try for a while! There is enough to make a vest for me - I am thinking of something with a little texture to it and buttons on the front. I am so excited! Everything in the box is fun, delicious, cute and perfect for a garden swap (I wonder if everyone sent gloves? And watermelon candy? So appropriate.), but I would like to draw your attention in particular to the tiny jar in the center of the loot.

(How cute is that froggy?)

That, Dear Readers, is Spoonable Fudge. The answer to the eternal question of “How do you mail chocolate in the summer without making a mess?” It comes with an itty bitty spoon! Which is now proudly owned by one William Henry (I didn’t hide it - who knew cats liked spoons?). Thank you so much for a wonderful swap Kathy! I have had a blast getting to know you. And thank you to Lynne for pairing us up!

There was so much mail today that it wouldn’t fit in the box, Post Guy actually had to deliver it to the front door! Part of the first prize for Dish Rag Tag arrived (and Kathy sent one too) - more on prizes at a later date. The other big arrival was the prospective boxes for Dish Rag Tag.

***DISH RAG TAG UPDATE***

The same box (barring an unforeseen smushing disaster) will be used all the way through the swap, passing through each team member’s hands once. I have located something sturdy enough, easy to open without ruining (knife to the tape on the top flaps), and a reasonable size. It also has the right price tag: free!

Plenty of room left for treats.

The dimensions are 7″x7″x6″ and loaded with yarn, dishrag and cheat sheet of instructions (participants might get so excited that they forget what to do when they get the box) it only weighs 10.75 ounces.

I have done Extensive Research.

This leaves 4 ounces for treats and 1.25 ounces for packing tape and mailing label. No problem.

I have notified all Team Captains - they were selected by chronological order of sign-up and state of residence.** US and Canadian teams have been officially created! On the US teams, all 10 of you are from a different state - the boxes will be crossing state lines every time they are mailed. The forums are also ready, so head over to Dish Rag Tag to meet your team mates! Navigation and instructions are pretty straightforward, but if you have any trouble or encounter any bugs, email me! Your team affiliation will show up in your profile, the forum link is also there (and up at the top). Team forums are private, but the General forum and Dish Rag Patterns (where pattern links should be posted and their merits discussed) are open to all participants.

Australian Teams, you are not officially assigned yet, I am still waiting on information from a few of you before I put together teams.

Spectators, when Team Australia is squared away, we will be opening up Spectator Registration. If you choose to register, you will be able to participate in the general forum, post dish rag pattern links, take part in the preliminary events and vote on some of the Individual Merit Awards (more on prizes at a later date).

*The blue shades are named “Tennessee,” “Memphis” and “Nashville”. The ecru shade is called “Ecru.” Do you think “Chattanooga” was just to hard to spell?
**Basically, I picked one Team Captain and then went down the list until I found the next volunteer who was from a different state. So all 20 (really 21 with Canada) are from different states.

Why don’t I make CounterPain Squares this fast? The pattern is Abigail’s and can be found here!

***DISH RAG TAG UPDATE***

Participants, you are now able to edit your profiles! Just login on the main page and you can add your blog name and URL, change your password (which Team Oz members might want to do), compose a short biography and even a picture (of you or your knitting) if you want. Please email me if you have any trouble with the application so that Michael can fix it a quickly as possible. If you’ve forgotten your password, email me about that too. The forgotten password button is Coming Soon.

In other news: Maude ate the heel of my Neapolitan sock.

Why, Maude? Why?

I can unravel back to the leg and take out the ruined yarn and re-knit it. But still. She needs to find a forever home. Wouldn’t you like a cute little doggy who likes to eat her Kong in a tent?

She slept all covered up for an hour.

Lauri and Sam of RubySapphire Yarns have finished dyeing the sock club yarn for one of my patterns!

Lauri says it’s Sam who has the fantastic sense of color.

The best part (besides the clear, amazing colors that are going to look fantastic on this sock) is that I get to name it! Naturally, the colors call to mind the ocean. There isn’t quite enough green in it to call it “Gulf Coast,” but the water in front of Great Gran’s house at Mary Esther is much more on the blue end of the scale.

It took me forever to find this picture - I need a new naming scheme.

I think “Mary Esther” fits well as the name of this colorway especially since most of the RubySapphire Yarns are named after people. I’ve also been calling the pattern “Surf” (the scallops remind me of waves) and you know how much I like it when things match.

The second of the sock club patterns is also moving along, I’ve chosen a more unisex look for this one and the pattern has directions for two sizes (medium and large). It’s written for circulars, but there should be no problem to work it on dpns (or magic loop or whatever).

The yarn is a deeper blue in person.

My arts and crafts for camp are officially planned (with help from Betty)! I’ve ordered supplies from Dick Blick they should arrive at VT (the camp venue) in a week! Everything else has to be picked up at Hobby Lobby (how convenient, they also carry Sugar’n Cream) and packed up for a plane ride.

Speaking of Sugar’n Cream:

**DISH RAG TAG UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS**

As we’ve been working on Team Assignments, I have started thinking about how having a month between signups and the start date is actually a good thing. Not only will you each be able to get to know your teammates through the forums, blogs and email, but there is also time for a few preliminary events. When the race starts, teams will be well-oiled machines and ready to work with single-minded purpose to achieve Dish Rag Tag Glory.

Michael is working on the piece of the application that will allow you to edit your profile to add your blog URL (if you weren’t able to before), a short bio and a upload a picture if you like.

Marie in Indiana, would you please send me an email (emily@yarnmiracle.com)? Your email address for Dish Rag Tag is incorrect and your confirmation message bounced!

Ladies and Gentlemen.

In far less time than I expected* and with far greater numbers than I anticipated**, Dish Rag Tag sign-ups are now closed.

We have 200 participants in the US and 10 on Team Canada. We will have 21 teams of 10 people each. The Miracle Household will be reviewing the list of registered participants, comparing it to known swap-buster lists^ and assigning teams over the next week. We will be contacting Team Captains over the course of the week as well. Since so many of you have volunteered for this job, we will be selecting Team Captains in a loose first come first serve fashion (geographic distribution will have something to do with it - this is a complicated algorithm).

In spite of the early closing of registrations, I am not going to move the start date. I am sure that like me, many of you have commitments in July that you did not think would affect the race. Y’all are just going to have to be patient - you knew we weren’t starting until August 1 when you signed up! However, there are a couple of “training events” in the works to keep you all in shape over the course of the next month or so. Stay tuned to Yarn Miracle for announcements, training events and other interesting goings on!

I want to thank each of you in advance for making this undertaking a success! You have certainly warmed my heart with your enthusiasm for this idea.

I also want to apologize to those of you who don’t get to participate in this go round. Please stay tuned to watch the show. Every team will need support and enthusiasm when the race begins and you never know what will happen!

*Seriously, I would have waited until Mid July if I had any idea how quickly this would go!
**Oh my gosh, I thought it would take a solid month to entice 50 people to play this game! The Wee Tiny Sock Swap only had 80 and it was a much cheaper swap! I solemnly swear that I will never again underestimate the Enthusiasm of Knitters for a challenge.
^This is a TEAM competition. Every team member needs to be dedicated and willing to finish the race. There is nothing more heart breaking than a broken swap. I’m not talking about medical emergencies and unavoidable situations, or slow knitting or whatever. I am talking about hijacking the box. Don’t hijack the box.

**DISH RAG TAG SIGN UPS ARE NOW CLOSED! PLEASE CHECK THE MAIN PAGE FOR DETAILS**
***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING DISH RAG TAG SIGNUPS***

I had no idea this many people would want to play my silly game! I am absolutely overwhelmed that at this moment there are 92 (96 - four more signed up while I typed this) people playing. Honestly, I was expecting about 50 people to take me up on this insanity! Since I am getting a little panicked about how far this might go, it is the first time something like this has been tried, and I am going to need a LOT of dishrags to start this thing off*, I have decided to cap sign-ups at 200 people. The up-side of this is that as soon as sign-ups hit 200, The Miracle Household can start sorting out teams and you should be able to start strategizing earlier! The start date will still be August 1.

Also in the category of *%@#!, I have realized that camp is a week earlier than I thought. I have to finish planning arts and crafts for around 160 kids ages 3-13 and order all the supplies in a week less time than I thought. This would affect Dish Rag Tag Dates, but since we are going to hit 200 players WAY before July 15, I am not worried about it anymore.

Excuse me while I panic a little bit.

*Abigail has kindly offered to help me by knitting a bajillion starter dishrags and I just bless her heart for it.