And they’re off!

Or they will be as soon as Rick (our letter carrier) picks them up.

Ellie and I packed boxes today!

Yarn, dish cloth, instructions, pattern, treat, repeat.

To be ready to pack your box, make sure you HAVE a box! Grab a Small Flat Rate Box (the ones that would hold a big book) the next time you are in the post office. They don’t make ’em like they used to, so it’s good to be prepared in case your team’s box is tattered and torn when it arrives at your doorstep.

Besides a spare box, have your needles ready. Great Gran and I used needles sized US6. Mom used US7. Whatever needles you typically use for dish cloths are probably fine.

The only other thing you need is a treat for your downstream teammate. Keep in mind that the boxes are itty bitty, so your treat should be too.

Everything else is in the box.

Team Captains, you’re it!

Dish Rag Tag will have 11 teams of 10 knitters this year.

I hope to have team assignments ready tomorrow.

Since sign-ups opened, we kept a Great Dane for a couple nights so the shelter could make room for her. Went to visit her at the shelter yesterday and then came home by way of Dr. Palmer’s with a couple of puppies that were found in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We’ll have them until they are ready for their second round of shots – about a week. So be patient with me. Puppies are exhausting. I’ll take some pictures to make up for any delay.

Y’all. I completely forgot what Sign Up Day does to my inbox.

Please pretty please have patience with me as I sort through everything and reply to the emails that need replies.

If I haven’t answered you by Wednesday, I may have missed your note and you should try me again.

If you have something that is crazy urgent (like pattern support), please put CRAZY URGENT I MUST KNOW NOW or something like that in the subject line.

Please also make SURE TO USE AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOU CHECK REGULARLY for Dish Rag Tag communication! If you need to check or change it, log back into the ap and edit your profile.

It’s almost 4pm and we have 74 knitters signed up!

Dish Rag Tag V

SIGNUPS ARE FULL FOR 2011!

Button! Take a couple to share!

The Short Version:
Teams of Knitters participate in a Dish Rag Knitting Relay Race that spans the 50 states.

The Longer Version:

• There will be a box (the baton) that circulates through the 10-12 Knitter Team.
• Each box will be packed with a finished dish rag, one ball of dish rag cotton (you know the kind I mean: the 2.5oz Sugar’n Cream, Peaches & Creme, or a similar cotton – the oversize balls won’t fit in the box!!), instructions, the Official Dish Rag Tag Pattern and a small treat: stitch markers, a candy bar, one of those “what size is my needle” things.
• When a knitter receives the box, the knitter will report (using the DRT web application) that she or he is “it”, and empty the box – keeping the enclosed dishrag and treat.
• The knitter will then knit a new dishrag using the cotton in the box and the Official Pattern. Don’t start knitting until you receive the box! This is cheating and will disqualify your team from Glory.
• When the dish rag is finished, it goes back in the box with a new ball of dish rag cotton, a small treat and all the instructions/patterns.
• The knitter will then send the box by Priority Mail to an untagged team member (tracking is required!). The specific instructions about how tags are made with the ap are in the box. Don’t worry, we have done this before!
• The first box to make it through all a team’s members and return to the Miracle Household achieves First Place Dish Rag Tag Glory!

The whole thing (even with priority shipping for a small flat rate box and tracking) should cost about $10 per participant and take up a little more time than knitting a dishrag. Just keep the treats small and reasonable!

More Details
Team Captains
I need Team Captains! Team Captains moderate their team’s private forum and guide their team to Dish Rag Tag Glory. Team Captains are responsible for communicating with me about their team’s status and will let me know if there are any obstacles that need hurdling. Team Captains also register their team’s name – names are fun. Team Captains will also be the first to receive their team’s box – keep that in mind when planning the mailing order.
There is a check box when you sign up if you want to be a Team Captain. (Assignments are made first come, first serve.)

The Dish Rag Tag Web Site
It’s not just where you sign up so remember your password! There are forums for each team and it monitors box progress. Addresses are stored in the Relay Race Manager Application (the DRT web ap). To get the address for the next knitter, you will log in with your secure password, pick the team member you want to tag and receive the mailing address for that person and that person only. Your mailing address will be available to only me and the one team member who is mailing the box to you.

Sign-Ups
Signups are open from now until Sunday, August 21, 2011 at midnight. Or until there are 100 knitters signed up. If this limit is reached (or almost reached) within 24 hours of the opening of sign-ups, I will extend the cut off to 120 knitters and we’ll have 12 teams. If that fills really quickly, I’ll consider extending the cut off to 144 and have 12 teams of 12.
If we end up with an uneven number, the last folks to register will be on the alternate list.
You can only sign up if you live in the 50 U.S. States. (Priority Mail, tracking, $$ restrictions and quick shipping all factor into that decision.)

A Dollar to Play
There is a $1 fee associated with registration to offset the ridiculous cost of postage. I’m sorry, but have you seen this economy? When you finish the sign-up process, there are instructions at the end. If you don’t have PayPal, don’t panic! Just email me and we will sort it out.

Teams
Teams will be assigned by the Yarn Miracle Household a few days after sign-ups close. That means that there are about two weeks for teams to get organized, plan their strategy (mailing order) and get to know each other before the race begins. The DRT ap has forums to help with this.
You MUST MUST MUST get in touch with your Team Captain during this time. If we don’t hear from you by Monday, August 29, 2011, you will be replaced with an Alternate. And I’ll totally keep your dollar.

Start Date and Shipping
The race will begin on Friday, September 2, 2011, when I mail the boxes to team captains.
Fed-Ex and Overnight Delivery are Prohibited. Participants must ship using the US Mail’s Priority Shipping and delivery confirmation (tracking). There is a place to enter the tracking number when you make a tag.

Prizes
There will be prizes for the top three placing teams. I’m not going to tell you what yet. It’s a surprise! But you aren’t in it for the prizes anyway, you are in it for the GLORY!