Here we are, once again at the end of Dish Rag Tag. Thank you all for joining me this evening to remember, celebrate and commemorate the ups and downs of competitive knitting.

The Individual Merit Awards were designed to highlight individual performance in a team-focused race. The select few whose names follow are representatives of the 286 individuals who knit for Dish Rag Tag Glory.

Considered by many to be the grand prize of Dish Rag Tag, Fastest Turn Around is determined using the DRT web application. Michael goes in, does some kind of magic, and sends me a list of everyone who received and mailed out the box on the same day. This year, there were fifty-five participants with this distinction.

I put all the names in a pitcher with a tiny spout and shook until a name fell out (it took longer than you would think): Colleen, Captain of the Dishrag Taggers! Colleen will receive the CD from Harvest Moon Upper Room with all of her dish cloth patterns! There is also a cone of Peaches and Cream from Jane so you can start knitting right away!

Mr./Mrs./Ms. Congeniality, the Most Valuable Player of Dish Rag Tag*, has two winners for Dish Rag Tag: the Sequel.

The first one goes to the individual who received the most nominations (both through email and in the forums) for her enthusiasm and perpetual good spirit is Alice of the RagOlympians! Alice will receive a beautiful wooly prize from Elizabeth (I don’t want to spoil the whole surprise, but here’s a clue!

The names of the other examples of kindness, friendliness and just plain good spirits were all hand written on slips of paper, crunched into balls and tossed into the air over my kitchen table. The name to separate itself from the pack (by landing on the floor) and claim the second Congeniality prize belongs to Joan of the Dishrag Divas! Beth is going to provide the prize for Joan (spoilers again, but I heard a rumor).

The knitting community at large cast ballots for the Best Dish Rag Tag Hard Luck Story. I am sure it is no surprise to learn that Brenda of the Expe-Dish-ous Raggers will be taking home Lesley’s (Expe-Dish-ous Team Captain) stitch markers and some candy to take the edge off her adventure!

Emily’s Surprise Award this year has two books from DeeDee as a prize: Inspired Fair Isle Knits and New Directions in Knitting. Therefore, it is only fitting to have two winners of the award. The surprise award for this year is for the Longest Time Spent on the Mail Truck. To determine the winners, I compared the date the tag was made to the date the date the box was received (confirmed with USPS tracking information). The overwhelming majority of tags were completed in the promised 2-3 days, there were only a handful of tags that required counting for this dubious distinction. The victims of circumstance are Nichole and Bethany of 2 Sticks and a String! Nichole started the tag on September 10 and it didn’t reach Bethany until 1:14pm on September 16! Their box’s journey edged out the closest competition (Rag Tag Bunch: Jennifer -> Marie) by an hour and eight minutes. Nichole will receive Inspired Fair Isle Knits and Bethany will receive New Directions for their patience (or impatience, I’ll have to check the forums) with the mail.

The Photo Contest was introduced toward the end of the race as an outlet for dish rag creativity. There was certainly a lot of creativity exhibited in the photographs for Best Use of Dish Rag. But as you know, there is only one winner and the community has spoken: dish rags are best used as arm brace cozies! Congratualtions, Tracey, Jessica’s exclusive stitch markers are waiting for you!

As far as the Best Time to Knit a Dish Rag goes, knitters are overwhelmingly in favor of knitting in the passenger’s seat instead of the driver’s seat! Congratulations are in order for Toni! She will receive “Knitting in Colors” a 2009 dish rag calendar from Barbara.

Our last mentions this evening are the Dish Rag Tag Superlatives. Born out of stressful late night knitting and too much coffee, these awards were meant to be light hearted and give everyone a laugh. The Team Captains assisted me in selecting the winners for the 2008 Dish Rag Tag Superlatives. There are no prizes associated with these awards, but I will be happy to create blog buttons for the winners upon request.

Most Unusual/Creative Gift – Chosen unanimously by the participating Captains, the Scrubbing Bubble from Jennifer (I think I’ve got the upstream/downstream relationship right)!
Snappy Slogan – A tough call, but “Knit You’re It” from Kathy carries the day!
Heaviest** – As the boxes began to return to me, I realized that it would be impossible to determine which team’s decorations were outstanding and which box had the hardest journey because they were all swathed in layers of packing tape that created a protective laminate coating. This Superlative now belongs to the box with the greatest amount “embellishment,” adhesive or otherwise. Each was weighed on my kitchen scale, with the Dishpaw Raggers weighing in at a whopping 5.5 ounces – half an ounce more than the closest tier of competition.

I want to once again recognize the folks who have sponsored the Award and Prize Mailing: Kate, Alaina and Lisa! Thank you so much again.

This concludes the Dish Rag Tag festivities for 2008, all that is left is the last round of prize mailing, baton recycling (assuming I can remove some of the packing tape). I leave you with with one final image:

Hope to see you all for The Son of Dish Rag Tag coming to Yarn Miracle in the summer of 2009.

*This award will actually be titled MVP next year.
**Formerly, Best Decorations or Most Battered and Bedraggled