Dish Rag Tag is moving right along with our three front runners reaching the halfway mark! In the lead with six tags each are the Cross Country Knitters, The Dish Rag Divas and the Dish Rag Taggers! There are a dozen teams hot on their heels with five tags, so the winning spots are still up for grabs - anything can happen!

I’ve almost hit the halfway point in my personal challenge. I’ve got a visit with my Mom to thank for that!

Number three is delicious.

The kettle corn I ate with number four was delicious.

Thank you, Aunt Patti, it was as good as being there! It really wasn’t, being at the first home game of the season is always better. This did not stop me from eating it ALL.

I sat in the backseat on the way home for fifth and sixth.

Most of sixth anyway.

I’ve gotten some really fun ideas from y’all for the Dish Rag Tag Superlatives! Just like in your high school yearbook, the prize for these awards will be Fame Alone (and a blog button) - but I will get the categories up in the forums as soon as I can. Pictures and stories will be submitted there, but we will have open voting to pick the Superlative Knitters! You have no idea how hard it is not to name these SuPURLatives - but I think it might be going just a little too far…even for me.

This - and a few other things like pictures of the prizes for the top three teams - might be delayed a little bit, we’ve got a hurricane warning. And while we’re not in for it like some other states, it is best to be prepared for anything. Especially since we have a tendency to lose power for a day or two.

Dish Rag Tag is designed to promote team work among knitters, but it is also meant to inspire individual knitters to acts of greatness. In acknowledgement of the spirit of the Individual, I joyfully announce the Individual Merit Awards for Dish Rag Tag: the Sequel. Individual Merit Awards can be won by any participant, regardless of team performance. Merit Award Winners will not be decided until the last box has returned to the Yarn Miracle Household.

Fastest Turn-Around
This honor will be bestowed based on tag times in the DRT Application. Everyone who received the box and got it mailed again on the same day will be placed in a hat. The winner will receive a CD from Harvest Moon Upper Room with all (that’s right - ALL) of her dish cloth patterns! You will also receive a cone of Peaches and Cream from Jane so you don’t even have to buy yarn to get started! It’s the perfect combination.

Miss/Mrs./Mr. Congeniality
Nominations for Miss/Mrs./Mr. Congeniality should be emailed to me (emily@yarnmiracle.com) before the end of the race. Nominations can be based on general kindness and helpfulness in the forums, a shining moment of Dish Rag Tag selflessness, or even just plain friendliness. Feel free to nominate as many people as you like, there will be two winners of this prestigious award for 2008! The first will be based on which individual receives the most nominations and the second will be a drawing. One nomination equals one spot in the drawing (if three people nominate you, you’ll have three chances of winning) and the overall winner will be excluded from the pot. Nominations must be in my in-box before the last box is in my mail box. **NOTE: I have added a forum topic to make it even easier to nominate people for this award!** Elizabeth and Beth will be providing the two lucky winners with knitty goodness.

Dish Rag Tag Hard Luck Story
Bad knitting makes for good stories. Please submit your Tales of Woe via email (emily@yarnmiracle.com) to compete for this prestigious award! You can either send me a permalink to your blog entry or the whole story in prose if you are blogless. Feel free to enter other people if their stories are suitable tragic! The Ivey household will narrow the entries down to five and then everyone will have a chance to vote for their favorite. You do have to email me to be entered in this - there are 288 of you and one one of me - even on a good day I couldn’t keep up with all those blogs (not to mention the un-blogged knitters). Entries must be in my in-box before the last box is in my mail box. **NOTE: There is now a forum topic to make it even easier to submit your Hard Luck Story!** Lesley is providing a set of stitch markers as a beautiful and delicate pick-me-up for the winner. There also candy associated with this award, nothing soothes the soul like sugar.

Emily’s Surprise Award
An unexpected tradition continues as I don’t tell you what this award is for until the end! The prize for this year is two great knitting books from DeeDee: Inspired Fair Isle Knits and New Directions in Knitting. I’ve been leafing through these (never let a knitting book go by unopened I always say) and even though I haven’t done any colorwork since the Knitting Olympics, these designs make me want to give it another go.

There are also many wonderful individuals who have sponsored Award and Prize Mailing! I want to take just a minute to acknowledge Kate, Alaina and Lisa! Be sure to stop by and thank them when the Tangible Evidence of Dish Rag Tag Glory arrives in your mail boxes!

Thank you so much to all of our Dish Rag Tag Sponsors for 2008! You have really made this a fabulous race with your generous offers and enthusiasm.

I didn’t forget about 1st, 2nd and 3rd team prizes! My Mom has half of them which makes them a little hard to photograph. We are visiting this week so I won’t have to keep you in agonizing suspense for much longer!

PS I am also considering some just for fun type of awards where the prize is only Fame (such as Most Stuff Crammed in a Tiny Box) so if you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
PPS It would be nice if the hosting company would email me BEFORE I exceeded my bandwidth, not after.

Well, that’s two. I should really brush my hair.

Emily, what are you going to do now that all the Dish Rag Tag teams are sorted out and it’s going to rain about 12 inches in the next 24 hours or so?

I think I’ll sort out the Individual Merit Awards and their prizes! I might* even tell you what the first three teams who finish the race will win.

*Don’t get too excited, might is only maybe.

Emily: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
Michael: That I get stuff to wear. Even though I don’t get to wear it for very long. Because of the heat. But socks, you know, you can wear socks all year round.

E: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
M: The quantity of sock yarn stashed around our house. In random places.

E: Like where?
M: Like shoved in the little desk upstairs. There’s probably some under the bed. (There’s not.)

E: What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good?
M: There are lots of things that you’ve made that are good. I love my cardigan.

E: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
M (carefully): Umm. Some of them do.

E: Do you have any hobbies?
M: Yes.

E: What are your hobbies?
M: I don’t know if any of my computer stuff counts as a hobby. So that leaves ham radio and sailing.

E: If we compared money spent on hobbies, who would win?
M: Over the long run, I’m sure it’s me.

E: Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you?
M: No. You knit in public?

E: Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
M: Obviously, it’s sock yarn. You’re fond of the Lorna’s Laces.

E: Can you name another knit blog?
M: I’m Knitting as Fast as I Can, Lookie What I Made, Sugar Bunny Boulevard, there are tons of So-And-So Knits.

E: Do you mind that I want to go to yarn stores everywhere we go?
M (reluctantly): Not really. It bothers me that you rarely buy anything. Because, why are we there?

E: Look! Look! Did you see that? Dear, she’s on her knees!

E: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
M: Absolutely.

E: And that is?
M: It’s to make sure you have your gauge right. Which is a combination of needles and yarn sizes.

E: Do you read Yarn Miracle?
M: Yes.

E: Have you ever left a comment?
M: Yes.

E: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn’t knit?
M: Probably not. I don’t think the reason the house is not clean has anything to do with you spending time knitting.

E: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
M: Unh-unh.

Blogless Patricia in GA, CONTACT YOUR CAPTAIN

The same goes for:

Joyce in NY

How do this many people sign up for a swap that starts in a week and then fall off of the planet? Do I sound annoyed? I am. I am annoyed loudly and publicly.

TIME’S UP! I am contacting alternates!

I have made a mistake. (Shocking, I know.)

About a week ago, the Cotton Queen Captain asked me if I could mail the box to her where she would be (in Florida) instead of where she lived (Colorado). I said no problem, printed out the address, and put it on the windowsill with the rest of my Dish Rag Tag post-it notes. What I should have done was change her address in her profile. Or had her change her address in her profile. I told at least two other people to change their addresses in their profiles when they wanted the boxes to go somewhere else so you would think that I could have managed to do it myself.

But I didn’t. I didn’t do that. And as a result of my click ‘n ship euphoria, the box is now in Colorado (where it arrived right on time) and Lani is still in Florida. The good news is that she will get home tomorrow and is rethinking her team’s strategy tonight.

So here’s what we’re going to do: Lani isn’t going to start knitting until the mail arrives at her home on Wednesday and the Cotton Queens have a two day handicap. All that means is that when the box makes it back here, I am going to pretend that it arrived two days before in the final standings. Like in golf but with days instead of strokes.

I got arrival notices from 22 of 24 boxes on Monday! I am going to figure out whose didn’t make it (or whose didn’t get scanned upon arrival)!

UPDATE: One of the teams I don’t have a notice for is on their second leg. So I am only worried about one!
UPDATE AGAIN: I just got the message for the last one! Go knitters!

First, a little exposition in case you are Just Passing Through (Constant Reader, just skip to the next paragraph).

I have a Great Grandmother* who could crochet and knit. She always had a crochet bedspread going. Whenever she would have to wait somewhere, she would pull out a bedspread square. As a result, there are more than a few spreads in the homes of various family members. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted make one too. My crochet skills don’t amount to much, so I have to knit. Knitting takes a lot longer than crochet. A. Lot. Longer. I’ve named the thing my Epic CounterPain. The first square from my pattern was finished on March 27, 2006**. My goal of 52 squares in 2007 brought me to the halfway point (excluding the trim).

Half a spread. (Folded in quarters: 1/8 of a spread is visible.)

My goal for 2008 was 24 squares - I thought that two a month was reasonable with a new baby.

In eight months, I’ve made seven.

Seven and a half.

I am going to finish 12 of those squares before the first Dish Rag Tag box gets back. Each square is about the size of a dish rag and takes about the same amount of time (two Monks and a Psych) to complete. I have confidence! I like a challenge! I can beat the box! I can do this thing.

The real trick is going to be doing all the other things that need doing.

*This is Great Gran’s mother. I live in her house. Great Gran is my regular grandmother - let’s think of the “great” as a superlative and not as a mistake I made when I was 2 because Great Gran was taller than her mother. She has finally forgiven me because of Ellie has made her a real Great Gran.
**It’s times like these when I regret not categorizing my posts.

Cyndie in CA

Joyce in NY

Monica in TX

Your Team Captains want to hear from you! Please log in and post to the forum, email them directly or comment on this post and I will get you in touch with them.

If anyone else has not been in touch with their Team Captain or Teammates either through email or in the Dish Rag Tag forums (available when you log in), please check in with them as soon as possible! The race has started! You need to know your teams strategy and your Captains will sleep better at night knowing you are ready to knit and help your team peruse the elusive Dish Rag Tag Glory.

If there are participants still unaccounted for by Friday, August 22, I have to assume that you no longer want to play and find an alternate to take your place. Not as a punishment or anything, but because you team deserves a fair shake at Glory. I don’t want to do that to anyone, so y’all make with the emails, comments and forum posts!