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:

The Starter Yarn for Dish Rag Tag 2009

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

Throughout the course of Dish Rag Tag: the Sequel, participants encountered many types of adversity. Wether it be a mad dash to the post office in hurricane conditions, a struggle with the official pattern*, or choosing between knitting a dish rag and doing the laundry, knitters around the country triumphed over impediments and kept the box moving. Our nominees are only a representative sample of the struggles along the road to Dish Rag Tag Glory.

The nominees for the Best Dish Rag Tag Hard Luck story are:

After a mis-delivery (to another city) Lynne, the last minute addition the Rag Taggers, manages a speedy turnaround:

Lynne: Here’s what happened today. When the mail arrived, it was not in the bin, which surprised me because it left Rochester on Saturday! I called Trish at the post office, who did some investigating, and found out the instead of coming to Buffalo on Saturday, it was probably put in the wrong bin and went to Pittsburg instead! She thought there was a possibility it would be delivered this afternoon according to “her sources!” At about 12:50pm, Trish called. I usually take my lunch at 1:00, so it was perfect! Except, my relief for lunch didn’t show up! It took until 1:30 to find someone to cover the phones, and then I went to the PO to get my box. The parking lot was full, there was a line, but I saw my little box right on the counter waiting! Trish wasn’t there, but I boldly went right to the front of the line and asked them for my box! The clerk said, “Are you Lynne? It’s yours!” I knit the first three rows in the parking lot, drove back to The Chapel, and sat in the car for the last 45 minutes of my lunch and knit more than half of the dishrag. So get this…I was listening to the radio, and my car battery died! So, somehow, some way, I was able to, from 2:30 pm on, knit the rest of that dishrag under my desk and in the bathroom, get my car battery jumped (without me being with my car!),answer phones and do my other duties! no kidding, I was red-faced from anxiety and pressure…everyone thought I was getting sick (probably also due to the fact that they were concerned about my trips to the ladies room!) There you have it, team. My quick-turn-around-hard-luck story all rolled into one! And I only had to knit one row at a stop sign!

LaVerna suffered a Dish Rag Tag related injury right from the get-go, but managed to complete the starting leg for the RagOlympians:

I was the first leg of our team.I was sooo excited to have the box.I was carefully cutting the tape(per Emily’s instructions)and sliced a deep gash in my right thumb.I thought I would never get it to stop bleeding.I pressed on and knitted way faster than normal but with a bandaged thumb it seemed to take forever!The last 4 rows were the most painful but I managed to get it done.It is healed up nicely now but I have a wee scar to remind me of DRT 2008.

The Expe-Dishous Raggers box for Brenda was reported as delivered but wasn’t hijinks ensued as she embarked on a wild goose chase around the neighborhood:

Well,
Let me tell you all about this “nightmare before knitting” Let’s see I saw that it was delivered but..l..no box in my mailbox. Knowing that our normal postwoman was on vacation…I thought “great” maybe she delivered it to a neighbor. I live in a cul-de-sac and let me tell you, if there was a centrifugal force keeping all the freaks in Washington confined to one street it would be this street. I started from one end of the cul-de-sac and figured that I would work my way in weirdness. Neighbor one, 2 senior males one with alzheimers, other…just out of his mind. I was greeted by a 80 year old man in a speedo. Bleech. Needless to say an hour later he let me know that there wasn’t a box for me in his mail. Spandex should be a privilege not a right. Neighbor number 2. They have a great-grandaughter that is 25 and seems to have been “touched” by the great spirit. The family is proud of her accomplishments and have encouraged her in her endeavors. I would be concerned if your 25 year old was marching around pretending to be in a band or hopping around the field like a bunny, but hey to each his own. An hour and a half later I was informed that there wasnt a box for me. Next neighbor. I knew that there was something up with him…he would come over to our house to chit chat and would notice that sometimes he would have fingernail polish on or he would have eyeliner on….fine he’s in a rock band….no this time when I knocked…no “neighbor” that I was used to but his very hairy sister was there…wait why does she have an Adams apple? 30 minutes later after his “sister” disappeared he came out and told me that he hadn’t had time to check his mail and that if I walked with him we could see…wait isn’t that the same halter top that his “sister” was wearing? NO BOX> hummph. Next neighbor. She was walking her cat. Not dog but cat. OK no box. Final neighbor….the one that I’d be avoiding because of all of them she’s the one that is obviously a few tacos short of a full combo plate. She has a pit bull that runs amuck in her yard. The last time I saw her outside she was trying to figure out what was wrong with her weed whacker. She had the “business” end up by her face and she was trying to activate the trigger with her toes. NOT right in the head. I looked through the shrubs to make sure that her “neighbor eater” was contained and ran for the door. Knocked, looked around for some life at the door. Nothing, great no dog barking…where is the dog? Great run for the fence….I waited until 7:30 when she came home and ran out side to see if she got my box. Nope no box. So in frustration I went BACK to my box and guess what? A box….What the heck….Was it cleverly using an invisibility cloak? So I ran up the stairs and started knitting. Wanting to get this puppy off the needles asap, I had that dish cloth done in an hour. I had the box done and packed by 10:00 p.m. I set my alarm clock for 7:00 am and was ready to get this out by today….get to the post office. The started their new “fall hours” today and they will be closed on Saturdays. My country for an open post office. sorry Shiann, I hope that you like the prezzies. Sorry guys I’ll have it off on Tuesday. I feel like I let the team down.

Shiann (the next in line for the Ragolympians) also persevered, but her personal struggle began after the theft of her mailbox:

Living in a small rural community 7 miles from town, I have a mailbox on the highway. I quit counting at six as to the times my mailbox has been vandalized this year. Signed up for dish rag tag and lo and behold just before I was to be getting my dish rag box, someone chain sawed my post and took mail box and all. So I have had to run into town to get my mail directly from post office. Due to the fact that my highway is currently being resurfaced, I have to take a detour 12 miles over hill and dale and curves and mountains (kidding here) on all gravel roads that have been traveled so much and by so many that they have turned into washboards that if you go to fast you jiggle/jaggle right off the road into the ditch. My pretty green car is now beastly reddish beige from all the dust. This AM before I left for work to go into town I made sure I had my knitting needles. Went to Post Office… Woo Hoo there it was. Went to my office to open the box. Scissors too big, finally found a knife. Looked at the pattern and thought “oh my god” How could that one gal possibly knit this in an hour. Sat down, started knitting. Everything went fine on beginning border rows except I might have put in an extra row there. Of course I had NO stitch markers with me so I made them out of the yarn I was making the dishcloth out of (not a good idea). That is when the problems started. I would knit a pattern row and come around and find that I had knit in my markers…… frog……multiple times. I had problems with the pattern rows also. I would always miss the first part of the rows…..get to end of row …wrong amount stitches left ….….frog………Several times on the purl rows purled right to the end…turn to do next row realize what happened…..frog…..once I even gave up and went for a walk I was so disgusted with myself. I was ready to cry. I could not develop a rhythm until I was ¾ done with the cloth. I persevered and finally it was finished. Read the last line. Weave in tails. Oh man no needles to weave in ends….Thought we might get disqualified if I didn’t weave in tails figured I better run to the store to get a needle. Went to store, got the needle, and wove in the ends. I was going to start repacking the box when I thought oh no, my yarn is at home……..so. Back into my car jiggle/jaggle 12 miles home to get my yarn and gifts and 12 miles back into town. Packed the box, got everything in there, (or so I thought) ready to tape the box and noticed the dishcloth I had persevered and sweated tears over still sitting on the table. Dang it all no room left in box. Opened the box and whimsically stuffed it inside one of the gifts….Have fun pulling it out Gloria. Off to Post Office and it’s on its merry way…No problems there…….I had made copies of the rules and the pattern. I am using the pattern to start the campfire I am having here tonight as I will never knit that pattern again. The dishcloth I received will be given a place of honor on the wall with a plaque that reads “Most frustrating Dishcloth Pattern”. (Shiann MN)

Debbie of the Dishpaw Raggers doesn’t mention here that she lives 30 MILES from the nearest post office:

There was a huge problem which was caused by the weather and the end of harvest. Gustauv also brought massive amounts of rain to our rural farm, so before the rain fell, we finished getting the grain in from the fields. That meant I missed getting the box Saturday…but my friend picked up the box for me…and because of the rain, she wasn’t able to get it to me, and I was traveling to my mom’s. The box was delivered at school today, I knit when the kids were working, then finished it up during my prep time, and barely made it to the post office by the 4:15 mailing deadline.
When I got back to the school, I found the directions and pattern had slipped from the box as I raced from the room…

They were back in there when the box made it here, nice save, DishPaws!

The voting is closed! Check back this evening for the results!

*Which, by the way, is now available as a pdf on the Yarn Miracle patterns page.

The nominees for the photographic category “Best Time to Knit a Dish Rag” are:

The death defying:

knitting while stuck in traffic

And the safer option:

I’ve whiled away many an hour on the road with my knitting. Here I am knitting a ballband dishrag on a trip to the apple orchard.
A friend took this picture while in the parking lot, Y’all.

The voting is closed! Check back this evening for the results!

Polls close Friday at noon central.

The nominees for the photographic category of “Best Use of Dish Rag” are:

I work in a library and handknit dishrags are the best for cleaning off our shelves. They stand up to anything!

Tempting a picky eater with a dishrag croissant.

If one has to wear an arm brace this is one solution for jazzing it up a bit.

Picot Swirl Dishcloth having fun as a yar*n*mulke for a day.

Best use of Best Use of Dish Rag!!!! To wipe the very talented hands of Franklin Habit should he need it!

My very best use of a dishrag.
I think Scarlet would just die for one of these garter stitch dishrag bows!

The voting is closed! Check back this evening for the results!