Let's Craft Something!

Do you ever start a project and realize about halfway through that you wish you hadn't?  That's kind of how I feel about my plarn crochet bag.  I mean, I love it.  I think it looks neat so far and it's a great way to upcycle those annoying plastic bags you get when you go to the grocery store.  The only reason why it is taking me so darn long to finish is because it takes me pretty much the same amount of time to make the plarn as it does to crochet it!  Not to mention that I have come to the part in the pattern where I have to double crochet; that's when I learned that one of the strips of bags is about two double crochets with a size K (6.5 mm) hook.



I'm almost done with the bulk of the bag.  I lack less than ten rows, then I have to do the strap, and any decoration that I may put on there.  This bag is becoming the bane of my existence.  It just sits there, staring at me, taunting and pleading with me at the same time.

Also, oops.  I went to put clothes away yesterday and realized my closet is horrible.   Like, terrible.  I don't think I can describe in words how badly organized my closet was.  So, I decided to redo it, but that is a post for another day.  Yes...I have found something else to put off that stupid bag.


While I keep putting that off, I keep coming up with new things to add to a list of to-do projects.  For example, I told Zach that, for our anniversary I was going to make him one of those "three wolf moon" shirts, but with Benni, his/our German Shepherd.  That's not to say I am not getting him the best gift with it, also.  I'm still working on getting the colors to look right... Like, getting all the dogs to look the same.  (Not that it's going to matter as much when it's transferred onto a t-shirt, but whatever.)

After that, he's asked me to make him a quiver for his arrows, since he got back into archery.  I thought that didn't sound too hard... All you have to do is sew a cylinder with an open end.  So we'll see how that goes.

Then I wanted to work on my steampunk jetpack out of plastic bottles... And...and... Phew.  All of this can get a little crazy. Good thing I have you guys here to keep me straight.  Okay, here's the priority list:

1. Plarn hobo bag
2. Three Benni Moon shirt
3. Quiver
4. Jetpack

That should keep me busy for a while, as well as give you an idea of what to expect from June.  Have any tips for any of the projects?  Inspiration for me?  Anything you'd like to see?  Let me know in the comments or on the Let's Craft Something Facebook page!

My first question after reading the title would be "What on earth is plarn?"  To be honest, I had no idea what plarn was a few weeks ago.  I was looking up some stuff on embroidery when I saw something about fusing plastic bags together.  I thought that sounded pretty neat, and then I saw that you could somehow make plastic bag yarn, or plarn, to knit and crochet with.

Yarn out of something that I already have a ton of?  Why not give it a try?  I mean, if I mess up, it's not like I spent money on supplies.

I was pretty skeptical, to be honest.  I mean, they're plastic bags.  They rip easily when you put too much weight in them, so how could they be that great for knitting or crocheting?  As skeptical as I was, I figured I would try it.  A lot of people had been doing it already, so there had to be some reason behind it...


I found a super simple tutorial on how to make plarn on a blog called Gooseflesh.  The only downside is that it takes a little while to make because you want to be careful not to rip the bags.  Her measurements are all in centimeters, but it works out to where approximately 2.5cm is an inch.



If you just want the gist of how she makes plarn, here's the quick textual version.  Basically, what she does is fold the bags in half (hotdog style), and again, and again, until her strip is about an inch wide.  Then she cuts off the bags at the seams at the bottom and the handle.  From there, she cuts the bags into 2cm sections.  After you open up the sections of bags, you knot them together and ta-da, double stranded plastic yarn, or plarn.

When I cut my sections of bags, I usually go with an inch width just because it is easier for me.  Like this, I can get 12 sections of bags from one bag.  This ends up making about a 216 inch section of plarn (with each section being about 18 inches).

Another great thing about plarn is when you reach the end of your plarn string, just add more to it.  I've done this probably three times while working on my bag so far.


I only have the base of my bag done right now, but I have already used about 9 bags already.  (I'm estimating because I still have some plarn on my homemade spool of a toilet paper roll.)  I'm only using Walmart bags right now, mostly because that's what our supply is pretty full of, but also because I like the white color with hints of blue that it puts off.


Ultimately, I'm hoping to get some yellow Dollar General bags to make flowers with also for the finished product.  I feel like it would compliment the colors well and really make it look less like recycled bags.


One thing I have learned, though is to be very careful with your knots.  They can tear the plarn if you try to force them through.  This is why it's important for you to get the knots as small as possible when making your plarn.  If you leave bigger knots and get into some tighter stitches, you could end up with the same problem that I did.  Learn from my mistakes!


Have you worked with plarn before?  What are your thoughts on it?  Would you ever consider using it?  Fused plastic bags before?  What do you do with your plastic bags?  Leave a comment and let's get upcycling!