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.

**DISH RAG TAG SIGNUPS ARE NOW CLOSED! PLEASE CHECK THE MAIN PAGE FOR DETAILS!**

Hi! I’ve got a couple of questions about Dish Rag Tag that I thought I should clarify for the group!

I’d like to sign up but I’m going to be away on vacation for part of August. Do you think that would be something we could work around?
Absolutely! Keep in touch with your team mates through the forums and can let them know that you shouldn’t be tagged while you are out of town.

Does this involve special computer skills in anyway?
Nope! If you can send email, blog or shop online you can do this.

How are teams getting assigned?
The Miracle Household will be assigning teams – I want as evenly matched a race (geography wise) as possible.

Do we leave all the dishrags and treats in the box as it goes along? That would get very heavy after a while…
I am a dope and didn’t clarify that! When you receive the box, you take everything out of it, keep the treat, the finished dish rag and one ball of dish rag cotton. Make your dishrag out of the other ball of cotton and put it, two new balls of cotton and a treat back into the box to send it on. Pick your treat carefully to keep you box less than a pound so that it stays $4.60 to mail priority any where in the US. I am correcting that in the original post. Sorry for the confusion!

Why do we have to use priority mail?
Basically to to keep the playing field even. By ensuring the same shipping speed for everyone (and the same inconvenience of a trip to the post office) this race is a more true contest of speed and organization. Team work will win the day!

Why aren’t you having the team captains stat the boxes?
Because it is more fair to have them all originate from one place. Everything will be mailed at exactly the same time and return to exactly the same place. There is no room for ambiguity, no accusations of unfairness etc. I have thought about this for almost a year.

Where do I send it after I get it? To the team captain or what?
The box is going to leave my house and travel through each team member once and then back to me. There is no set order for who is tagged next. Your team should communicate in the forum to decide where to send it. Strategy making is encouraged: get out your maps and plot the quickest course around the country, figure out who is out of town when and work together to achieve Dish Rag Tag Glory!

How much of my personal information is going to be out there for all the world to see?
Not much! When I post the teams, the list will be your first name (which will link to your blog if you have one, I left that off the registration form but there will be a chance to add it to your record when Michael builds that part of the application) and your state. The only people who will see your full name and address are the Miracle Household and whoever is mailing the box to you.

PS Registration for Dish Rag Tag is now available for Team Canada! We need 10 good Canadians to field a team – run over to the sign-up page and click the “I’m with Team Canada” link if you want to play along!
PPS Maybe I’ll show you some actual knitting next time!