Swatch! Swatch! Swatch! What can I do with them all?

We've found a home for so many swatches.  How many you ask???  Would you believe 99 swatches of a variety of sizes?  It's amazing.  Can you come up with any new ideas?  Here are ideas for 8 to 10 swatches each.

1. Seat Cushions:  Nine granny squares is also the right size for a seat cushion for the dining room chairs.
2. Tote bag cover:  Nine four-inch granny squares can cover the side of a slightly worn, but ohso-handy tote. Eighteen squares and you can cover the whole thing!
3. Doll House Afghan:  Nine tiny granny squares will make a doll house afghan. The best yarn to use here is one strand of three-ply needle point yarn.
4. Tote Bag Cover:  Eight 6 inch squares and you can cover the same tote above.
5. A whole sofa cushion:  Eight swatches or squares and you can cover on both sides of a sofa cushion
6. Slippers:  ten 3 -4 inch squares, 5 to each one can make slippers.  
7. Vest:  For larger children and adults, 10 swatches of 2 sizes will make a vest.  Take 2 very large swatches for the front and back panels.  Use 3 small swatches seamed to the left and right side of the front.  Seam them now to the back panel.  Seam 2 of the remaining 4 small swatches together on one side to form a shoulder strap.  Repeat.  To place the straps, start at the 1/4 mark and the 3/4 mark at the top of the tube you formed before and seam them working toward the outside edge.  To give a finished appearance, single crochet around the outside edges.  

And here we have found a home for another 63 squares/swatches in a variety of sizes.  Bet you can't guess what all there is in store for next month!

Works in progress and nurturing new knitters

At a recent Christmas party, I had the great joy of helping a grand niece learn to use her knitting machine.  It's an updated version of one I received when I was about her age. Hers has more capabilities than mine did. My only complaint is it came with eyelash yarn.  This young lady let me know what I knew but didn't voice. This yarn in not easy for a beginner to learn with.  My solution? To give her yarn that I know I won't be using for whatever reason.  My problem? I could not find it anywhere. I just knew it was in certain storage containers. It took me three weeks and a nasty bout of stomach flu to find it. It was exactly where I put it. I had consolidated most of my stash in the way that makes sense to me.

Unfortunately the finding of stash coincided with some really cold (definitely Arctic) weather and our heat was lost. The air intake and exhaust were blocked by ice. No way was I going to pack yarn in 30* temps in my basement.  Now we have heat back and a new problem. But I can pack the yarn in relative warmth.   She will be getting a nice big box of assorted yarns and colors.

My new issue? We had a leak that is threatening our bedroom ceiling. My task is to clean out all the things I can so we can move the furniture out to replace the ceiling.  I'm finding projects I forgot about, projects I started and put aside, projects for classes, charity afghans for warm up America.

I decided to make two lists.  One of each UFO and who it is for, when it was started, when it is needed by.  The other list is who is on the gift list and three ideas for each.  Where I can I will be matching up these two lists.  So far I have almost twenty UFO s.

I also have an opportunity to put each project in its own bag. This will make it easier to grab something on my way out the door or as I sit down and relax.  When the list is finished, I will post it.  This might be better for holding me accountable and get things finished.