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!

Here they come!

I saved $18 with click n’ ship!

Seriously, y’all, postage is ridiculous.

Speaking of postage, I finally got around to picking a winner for the Divvs Rating contest. We did things the old fashioned way.

That is his A-Team lunch box.

Congratulations, Beth! You were the “other Beth” because you were the second Beth. Knitty goodness is on it’s way to you (I forgot to take a picture, but that would spoil the surprise anyway)! Thank you to everyone who helped Michael test, they are always tweaking the system so check your Divvs Rating often. I’ve found that the quickest way to boost your score is to harass your friends into signing up.

The Official Pattern of Dish Rag Tag: the Sequel is complete. When I was searching (read: wracking my brain) for the inspiration for this pattern, I asked myself: What do I like in a dish cloth?

Seed Stitch!

So that’s what you get. To make the Official Dish Rag, you need to be able to cast on, bind off, knit, purl and read a pattern. Two stitch markers are helpful, but not required if you have a lot of confidence. The gauge is roughly 4 stitches to an inch in seed stitch (I used US6 needles) – the finished dish cloth should be between 8 and 9 inches square.

When the race is over, I’ll put the pattern on my patterns page.

The teams are assigned! Log in to see who you’ll be teamed up with in the quest for Dish Rag Tag Glory.

All of our team captains are new this year (I thought it would be fun to give lots of people Leadership Opportunities)! You team’s captain moderates the forum and will also finalize Mailing Strategy for your team, so be sure to let her know if you’ll be out of town at any point during the race.

What are you waiting for? Go see who your teammates are!

**If you don’t have an email from me in your inbox, please check your spam folder and (if it’s not in there) log in and check your email address for accuracy!**

I’m assigning teams. This is what it looks like:

You’d think I’d have a different plan this year.

I took that about 45 minutes ago. There are three times as many strips of paper on the table and four more sheets of participants to cut up! I should have teams assigned by this evening.

If no one turns on the ceiling fan.

UPDATE: Michael just got home and is writing a script to assign teams. I wish I had known he could do that before I cut up all that paper.

Dish Rag Tag Sign-Ups are officially closed!

We have 289 participants. Which makes 24 teams of twelve and one alternate (the last person signed up – I’ll email you in a bit to let you know who you are). Perfection.

I gotta start making teams! I still gotta figure out that pattern!

PS Divvs is working again. I am down to a 67. Boo.