Plarn – I hope I didn’t disappoint

Plarn, or yarn made out of plastic bags, has been on my to-do list for a fair while now, ever since I read an article on it in Simply Knitting. The problem was that around that time the plastic bags that I got regularly all went bio-degradable, great for the planet but not so good for making things with.

Charity Bags

After several times of emptying out the bottom of my post box of handfuls of charity bags I suddenly realised that these would make great Plarn. After a thorough read to see if they mentioned bio-degradable (they didn’t) I started saving. Then, last week when I was looking for a project to take away with me on holiday I decided to investigate my stash. I had 21 bags (or maybe sacks would be a better term as they are bigger than your average ‘bag’.).

Making Plarn

So how do you make Plarn? I had no idea and so turned to Google and came up with this page which I found easy to follow. As I had no handles on my bags I simply had to cut the bottom off, cut the bags into strips and then join the ‘circles’ together. It is not at all hard and I quickly made a large ball which I thought would surely be enough. (There are plenty of YouTube videos to watch if that is your preferred method of learning.)

Plarn with a tea light holder for scale.

Project

I knew that I wanted to make a bag and again went to google for a pattern. I found an amazing website called  MyRecycledBags.com that had two bags that I liked the look of:

A reusable Plarn Produce Bag       Recycled Net Market Bag

Of the two I prefered the second of the two and so this is the one I started!

Here it is in its finished glory!

Over the last couple of days I have been using it and have got several comments on it. It seems that I am not the only one who has it on my to-do list. Some wanted to touch it and are, like me, surprised with the finish. I am not sure if you can see from this picture but I ran out of ‘red’ bags (bags with red writing on) and for the top and handles used ‘green’ ones. I like this effect and would definitely use this as a design feature in future projects.

Using Plarn

Plarn is the ideal material to work with on a beach as it doesn’t matter what happens to it. The plarn cannot get damaged. I found it quite hard on the hands and it is not a project to do in a quiet room as it rustles!! Having said that I am really impressed with the way it finishes. I really wasn’t sure if I would like it at all but it works into something I was really surprised about. It looses that rustle texture and becomes quite smooth. I actually quite like it. I also think that it will be fairly strong which I was also not expecting.

The future with Plarn?

I will be doing more work with plarn. I have been very impressed with it and will experiment with different hook sizes (I used 10mm) and maybe thinner strips. I have already mentioned the colour variation. I am thinking that a smaller bag for phone and keys with a long handle would be useful ….

Anyway I have already had bags handed to me so I doubt that it will be very long before I have enough for a new project! 🙂 (I used about 16 in this project.)

I am now going to link up with Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour and catch up with what everyone else has been up to this week. Do join me.