2/8/12

Plastic Yarn Tutorial

I recently learned how to make plarn (plastic bag yarn). It has been really cool making and crocheting it lately. Last night I realized that I shouldn't keep this all to myself. So I figured I would make a tutorial on it.
What you will need:
*Plastic bags, pretty much any kind will work.
*Scissors
*Ruler (optional)
First, take your bag and lay it out on the table.
Then fold it in half lengthwise.
Fold the bag in half again.
Cut off the handles and the bottom. You can throw these away.
Start cutting strips about 1 in. wide. You can pretty much just eyeball it to see where you need to cut. Measuring is not crucial, but it determines how many strips you will get from each bag.
When you are done it should look like this.
Take two strips and unfold them.
Take one of the loops and loop it through the other one.
Pull one of the loops up through the other loop and pull. Be careful to not pull too hard because we are working with thin plastic which tears easily.
The knot will look like this.
Repeat these steps until you have a big heap of plarn on the floor. Wind the plarn into a ball as you normally would yarn. After that you are free to use your plarn as you please!!!
I choose to make a soap dish with mine. I'm thinking of making it a free pattern.
I think that most people who have not made plarn would think "It's made out of bags it would be too stiff. I don't want to work with that." First of all, feel a plastic bag, it's not rough, in fact it's very smooth. Second, if you use a big enough hook. Plarn is very flexible when crocheted.
So I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
Happy plarn-making!!!