Tag!

I've been playing Emily's Dish Rag Tag, and yesterday I was it. Dish Rag Tag is Emily's attempt to encourage some knitting competition, with a race. There are teams of 10 people, and each person receives box, knits a dishrag from yarn in the box, then sends the box along to the next person in line. The first team to get their box back to Emily wins!

My box came yesterday, and this is what was in it. The dish rag, the full ball of yarn, and the yarn cutter are all for me. The ivory ball of yarn was full when I got it - this is what's left after I made my dish rag.

Here's where the story gets ugly. This is competitive knitting, right? So it's important to go fast. I knew the box was arriving on Monday, so my plan was to go to class, go home, get the box, go to work, knit all evening, and send the box off first thing in the morning. Good plan, right?

But yesterday it rained. Really rained. We got more rain than we usually get in August in just one day. And I found out the hard way that this is bad for the roads. My car isn't working, and needed a part. So Aaron let me borrow his truck to go get it. I was on my way home (almost ready for the "get the box" step), when someone stopped suddenly in front of me. And nothing happened when I hit my own brakes - the truck skidded forward, right into the poor guy's Blazer. So now the truck is at the body shop, where it will remain for at least a week, while we try to come up with the $2700 necessary to fix it. (Is it good or bad that I was already frantically trying to come up with some liquid funds, because my computer is totally dead?)

My car not working + Aaron's truck wrecked = NO CAR. There's a part for my car at a local mechanic, but I don't know how I'll be able to get out to pick it up, or if it will really work. Not to mention that all the paperwork and running around to deal with post-wreck things meant no time to go home and get the box.

This is the "wonderful boyfriend" part of the story. Even though I'd just destroyed his truck, his beautiful truck, the one he bought himself when he finished college, rather than sit in his office plotting ways to kill me Aaron took the bus home so he could get my box! He then enlisted a dear car-owning friend, Sigulf, who drove over, picked up the box, and delivered it to me at work. So thanks to these two wonderful people, I was able to knit for about three hours last night, and get the dish rag mostly finished.

I finished it up this morning, and here's what's in the box now. Our box is getting a little beat up, but we're supposed to try to have it make the entire trip, so I just added another layer of tape. My dish rag is in the Quilted Diamonds pattern, using the ivory Sugar 'n' Cream yarn. The surprise is a crocheted bead bracelet, and some goodies from Endangered Species Chocolate, an Indiana company which promotes green operations and ethical trade. Vickie, you'll be doing a good deed when you eat this chocolate!

But the bad luck seems to be following me. Because of the No Car problem, I had to go to a post office that was accessible by bus. Which meant the Postal Contract Station in the University Bookstore on campus. They'd decided to have a single line for everything at the customer service desk - postal service, book returns, and book buybacks, and then they staffed the desk with people who knew nothing about the postal service. My cashier kept calling for help, and when someone finally arrived, he just said "just send it regular priority," and walked away. That was exactly what I'd been telling the guy I wanted to do, so I'm not sure how helpful it was. Anyway, I saw him put postage on the box, but getting a tracking number for me was far too much of a stretch for the guy who spent a lot of time looking for a Secret Code Book when the postage scale asked for a ZIP Code. This still seemed like a better option than waiting until tomorrow to try to get to a different post office, or trying to arrange a carrier pickup. I hope it all works out. Something needs to start working out. Good thing the dishcloth looks good!