Monday (that was the 10th, right?) brought two more teams to Dish Rag Tag Glory.

The eighth team to complete this outstanding journey is:

The Cotton Commandoes!

See Michael’s hand? We just pulled things out of the mailbox and through the car window – he was nice enough to lean back and not get in the way of my pictures. Marcia Louise (scroll to the August 26 entry – it’s a must-see) sent me some really lovely things!

It was like opening a box of sunshine!

I love yellow and Marcia Louise loves sunflowers (just about the happiest flower there is), so this leg of the swap worked out very well for both of us! The note card is super cool – it’s little and tied with ribbon but unfolds into a sheet of note paper (my visual aid shots of this phenomena did not work out). I can’t wait to plant the sunflowers! The Cotton Commandoes also provided a post card from each of the box’s stops along the way. My post card collection has officially outgrown the thing I use for a bulletin board so I am going to start a scrap book instead.

The ninth team to finish the race (arriving on the same day as the eighth) is:

The Happy Yarn Hags!

The Happy Yarn Hag box arrived directly from Elizabeth.

So is that some of your hand spun that held the wrapping together?

Yay! Burt’s Bees stuff! Her card says that after a relay race, your feet deserve some pampering (whahahaha). Here is an alternate view of the box – the Happy Yarn Hags have autographed the inside flaps!

Thank you so much and big congratulations to both teams! I love going to the mail box – each day brings new surprises!

Dish Rag Tag Round-Up
1…Hip-Knit-Tised…9/4
2…Team XDR…9/6
3…Rag Racin’…9/6
4…Lucky 13…9/6
5…Going the Dish-Tance…9/7
6…Rapid Rag Relayers…9/7
7…POST knITS…9/8
8…Cotton Commandoes…9/10
9…Happy Yarn Hags…9/10

Does anyone know of a pattern similar to this cardigan from Eddie Bauer? It’s not especially pricey for a sweater…it’s just more fun to make your own.

The boxes keep coming in!

Finishing in fifth place:

Team Going the Dish-Tance!

Kim packed me some very fun goodies:

The dish rag is mitered! Or maybe it’s interlac – either way, I don’t know how to do it and that makes it magic.

The box includes some yummy Schaefer Anne (looks like a sunset), a pattern to go with it, and see the wee little sweater leaning on the yarn? I would eat it if I wasn’t afraid the key ring would break my teeth. Mamie is playing with the tissue paper as I type this.

Also finishing the race on Friday were:

The Rapid Rag Relayers!

I am writing a poem about how much I love chibis (chibii? chibies?).

Chelsea (her parents’ new cars appear to be twins – see June 28) sent me a wealth of brightly colored cotton that includes some of the self-striping Sugar n’Cream! I didn’t even know that existed until this competition and have been desperate to try some. One of the things I really enjoyed about the Rapid Rag Relayers’ box was their “Read Me” card. It’s covered with notes from each team mate, detailing the dates received and mailed. It’s like reading the box’s diary.

When I checked the mail after visiting Great Gran on Saturday night I discovered the seventh box to finish the race:

Team POST knITS! The name on the box is lost in the glare.

The POST knITS box arrived from Kate and was full of really fun things and sealed with the greatest packing tape I have ever seen:

My Mom will covet that dish rag in all its shades of pink!

I took a close up of the sweet coasters and push pins so you could get a better look: here it is. The coasters are reversible – isn’t that great material? I want a skirt out of the pink! The soap is hand made with mango and oatmeal (it smells delicious) and is named “Texas Hurricane Soap” which gave me quite a giggle. Alabama Hurricane Soap probably smells like mildew and broken pine trees.

Prizes were mailed today! Many thanks to Mom for her prize-shipping sponsorship.

Dish Rag Tag Round-Up
1…Hip-Knit-Tised…9/4
2…Team XDR…9/6
3…Rag Racin’…9/6
4…Lucky 13…9/6
5…Going the Dish-Tance…9/7
6…Rapid Rag Relayers…9/7
7…POST knITS…9/8

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Individual Merit Awards. since the information about these is scattered across three different blog entries, this is a quick post is to consolidate.

Individual Merit Awards, Prizes and How To Win Them

• Fastest Turn-Around – A pair of sock blockers from Becky of Leggy Creations! The Dish Rag Tag Application is doing all of the hard work for this one by keeping track of when the boxes are received and someone new is tagged. If it is too close to call (that is, there are a lot of same day turn-arounds), I’ll add all of the qualifiers to a hat and draw a name.
• Best Dish Rag KIP Picture – A skein of Trekking sock yarn (color 76) provided by Kathy! This award is available to non-participants as well, just email me a picture of you knitting a dish rag in an unusual (or amusing) public place or situation. The Miracle Household will select the Top 5 to be voted upon by the Greater Knitting Community.
• Most Complex Stitch Pattern – A set of stitch markers made by Ebinla! For this one, email me a photograph of your finished Dish Rag Tag dish rag (the one you are mailing to the next person on your list) and pattern details (the book, link, name, whatnot). I get to pick this one, and frankly, I am already very impressed with the complexity of some of the dish rags that y’all have made! It’s going to be very hard for me to pick. If there isn’t a clear winner, there may be some voting on this one too.
• Miss Congeniality – A precious sweet Nifty Notions Keeper hand-made by Kristin! This award is nomination based. If you would like to nominate someone for Miss Congeniality, email me with her name and team (to be sure I know who you are talking about). The individual who receives the most nominations, will be declared the winner of this prestigious award. Since we are almost halfway through the race, y’all can start nominating whenever you are ready!
• Best Dish Rag Tag Hard Luck Story – The prize for this one: stitch markers of course! This set is from Carrie, Team Captain of Going the Dish-Tance. To enter, blog about your horrendous, frustrating or disastrous Dish Rag Tag Experience and email me the perma-link. The Miracle Household will pick the top five (based on hilarity and/or degree of tragedy) and then they will be voted on by the public at large.
• Emily’s Surprise Award – that’s all I am saying about that.

Individual Merit Award voting and winner announcements will be made after all the teams have completed the race. If you’ve got any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Up next: The next three boxes – as soon as Word Press uploads my pictures!

In the original rules I stated that in the event of two boxes arriving on the same day, the first one into the mail box would be considered the first box to finish. Imagine my shock when not two but THREE boxes appeared in the mail box yesterday! It really was a nail-biting photo finish (which was followed by a Big Thunderstorm hence the not blogging until today)!

The last into the mail box and the first out…

In fourth place:

Team Lucky 13!

Take a look a the goodness inside!

Those aren’t stitch markers, they are earrings! How’s that for a cute idea?

Lesley, thank you so much! As an added bonus (as if this wasn’t enough), there is also a collection of cards from the Lucky 13 team members! What a fun idea – and such a treat for me. The purple dish rag is a gift from Ally B. Many thanks to you all!

It kills me that 4th place doesn’t have a prize associated with it – especially since it is such a narrow margin of victory. I will be sending each of you a Certificate of Completion (with shiny foil stars and the official signature of the Dish Rag Tag Commissioner) for you to add to your Wall of Achievement (I know you have one). And of course, should any of the other teams be unable to fulfill their obligations of Dish Rag Tag Glory…

The middle box, our Third Place Finishers in Dish Rag Tag are:

Team Rag Racin’

And inside we have:

I love the hand cream – that is so cool!

My picture doesn’t show it very well (all the content pictures were taken in between rain showers that make poor lighting conditions), but the dish rag from De says “LOVE” with a heart for the “O.” I’ve never tried motif knitting myself – I need only to think about the Cross Stitch Disasters of my youth to convince myself that I need to leave that kind of thing to the more patient, careful and discriminating knitters. Thank you so much, De!

Congratulations, Rag Racin’ on an impressive Third Place Finish!

And now…

The first box into the mailbox and the last one out…

The Second Place Finishers in Dish Rag Tag (and winners of “Most Abused Tag Box Thus Far”):

Team XDR!

The crowd goes wild! I opened it from the bottom since the top was Well and Truly Taped and discovered a pile of goodies:

Yay! I am going to develop some kind of blood sugar disorder from all this candy!

Wendy has outdone herself with all kinds of fun again! Smooshy sock yarn that I have heard so much about (in lieu of dish rag cotton, which she pointed out I would be receiving a copious amount of in the very near future) and Lantern Moon needles to knit it with! I’ve never had hand made needles before, they are entirely too pretty to knit with. I am thinking of having them framed. Thank you so much, Wendy!

A big “Congratulations!” to Team XDR on their harrowing photo finish! Barring Catastrophic Printer Failure, prizes for the top three teams should get into the mail tomorrow.

PS I forgot to mention my favorite thing about all of the boxes that have arrived back to far: the READ ME card is still inside and is none the worst of wear. That makes me grin every time.
PSS It is taking forever to get all my pictures uploaded today! This entry was written ages before it got posted because of this frustration! ARGH WHY WON’T THEY GO? OK all done. Now I am going to the mail box to see if any boxes are here today!
PSSS William Henry is on my table rubbing his chin on the Dish Rag Tag boxes. All the treats belong to William Henry.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Almost one month to the day* since the race began, we have a First Place Team!

Team Hip-Knit-Tised!

What dedication to Teammates! What devotion to competition! What yummy chocolate inside!

As you can see, Deborah (KS) packed the box full of fun stuff for me: Peaches & Creme in a colorway I haven’t seen (patriotic dish cloths), Post-it notes with matching highlighters (heehee), chocolate (those new Russell Stover Private Reserve which I highly recommend) and the all-important dish rag (I love the YO edges). Thank you so much Deborah and congratulations to the entire Hip-Knit-Tised Team!

Second and Third Places in the race are still up-for-grabs – as well as all of the Individual Merit Awards! The prizes for those are as follows:

• Fastest Turn Around – A one-of-a-kind pair of blockers from Becky of Leggy Creations! Because you really have to Leg It to get the box back in the mail on the same day.
• Best Dish Rag KIP Picture – A skein of Trekking sock yarn (color 76) provided by Kathy! Get it? Because you have to trek out of the house to KIP? Maybe I am not as funny as I think I am.
• Most Complex Stitch Pattern – A set of stitch markers made by Ebinla! Stitch markers just make sense.
• Miss Congeniality – A precious sweet (much like a Miss Congeniality herself) Nifty Notions Keeper hand-made by Kristin**!

I am adding another category to the Individual Merit Awards: Best Dish Rag Tag Hard Luck Story. To enter this one, blog about your horrendous, frustrating or disastrous Dish Rag Tag Experience and email me the perma-link. We’ll pick the top five and then they will be voted on by the public at large. If you have already sent me the link to your Hard Luck Story for fun, would you please send it to me again to enter? The prize for this one: stitch markers of course! This set is from Carrie, Team Captain of Going the Dish-Tance.

I’ve got one more Top Secret Merit Award up my sleeve and I’m not going to tell you what it is or what it’s for. Surprises can be fun!

I will to leave you with this verse inscribed by Sue on the outside of the Hip-Knit-Tised box:

Thru wind and storms
As dark as Night
I’ll Knit my cloth with
All my Might.

Knit on to Dish Rag Tag Glory.

* As near as Labor Day Weekend would allow anyway.
**Who, it amuses me to see, has posted a lolcat from today’s cheezburger.