Any suggestions on good ways to archive swatches? I never throw swatches away, thinking that they're good reference, but they end up just kicking around with the yarn, needles, WIPs, etc. (Yes, I am a packrat down to the bone. I'm currently sitting on the couch surrounded by a pile of zip-lock bags containing partial projects.)
I'm thinking of some kind of scrapbook-style binder, maybe with plastic pouches; or maybe just a shoebox dedicated to swatches. Hmmm. Album with heavyweight pages... snack-size zip-lock bags ... double-sided tape or staples. Um. I dunno.
I've started putting hanging tags with notes on the swatches, so they might, theoretically, be useful again someday, but the tags have an affinity for tangling--not a good thing when you toss them into the overflowing beach bag containing seven works in progress. That beach bag is "just for current projects" like my first credit card was "just for emergencies."
This morning I decided to stash-dive for some leftovers to start a Cloud Hat, and I began pulling various projects out of the beach bag. At the center I found the most unholy knot of yarn, almost all of it attached to needles somehow. I really felt embarrassed, but with 10 minutes of loosening and pulling and unwinding, I got it all separated. Several chunks got bagged and sent to the stash cabinet, but then I had to pull out some other old WIPs to visit them. Somehow, more yarn came out of the cabinet than went in, and one thing is very clear. I really have enough yarn. Really.
I did eventually find the orange mohair and mango microfiber I wanted to make the Cloud Hat, and I rotated a few projects. The truly current ones are sitting, unbagged, next to the sofa and a few old favorites are now in the beach bag to be visited very soon. Some of them clearly need the kind of rethink that involves removing the needles and, you know, removing the stitches (shhh. I'm afraid the Icelandic wool/mohair sock will hear, and know it's going to meet the same fate as the purple & teal manos vest.)
