Post 002: Plarn ReUsable Can Liner

Many times we want to take small steps to cut down our environmental impact.  Personally, reusable shopping bags have been a blessing in my household and I primarily shop at places that do not use plastic to baggage goods and groceries.  There are days though, where it's unavoidable--we forget the bags, or forget to put them back in the car....however it happens, most people end up with at least a modest stash of plastic grocery bags.  While we use them for our smaller trash cans when we have them on hand, they can be sent back to a few grocery stores to be recycled.  You can also add to the reduce-reuse-recycle chain by crafting with plarn.  Plarn is a "yarn" made out of plastic bags.  I've used this in many projects in the past, mainly to create durable reusable bags that make a statement about reusing and reducing our environmental footprint.  If you're interested in recycling plastics, especially thin plastics that you are not able to recycle or avoid using, then read on to see my latest project.

For those of us familiar with plarn, we've all seen the haphazardly crocheted mismatched reusable bags.  These are great, I'm not knocking them, but when form, function, and beauty match one another, MAGIC HAPPENS!  I was tasked with the idea of creating a reusable 13inch bag for someone to use for their recycling bin.  It was a swap item, so I wasn't charging, but I still wanted it to look amazing--my intent with anything I make is that if I can't see anyone purchasing or enjoying it, I won't make it--no sense in making things that people won't use or enjoy.  While there are many great cloth reusable bags that I encourage all to use, my specialty is crochet so I took it upon myself to make one out of plarn.  I did this because it makes a statement to follow the reduce-reuse-recycle chain, but it's also easy to clean, doesn't absorb scents as easily as fabric, and it's mostly durable when tightly crocheted. 

I began with the intent to make it a solid gray bag, as I knew I had enough gray bags to make this work.  After building up the base/bottom (simple sc increase on each round, I'll share details below on the build-up), I figured I'd throw in a motif.  I've done color motifs/color charts with regular acrylics and wool projects before, but never with plarn.  A quick search on the internet showed me that I couldn't find any other projects that utilize this technique on a large scale, outside of trim or smaller designs.  Go big or go home right?  So I used a graph that I found on Pinterest and began stitching away, using the graph as a guide. 

And it grew.

And grew.

And grew larger still.  I added a drawstring with a cotton string made of an old tee shirt (tee shirt yarn, tarn for short) also, for extra durability.  I did not trust a plarn drawstring, as it may snag more than a smooth cotton drawstring.  I also later added beaded handles to the edges to make it more user friendly--not pictured.

What do you think?  Care to share some of your plarn projects that go above and beyond the norm? 

Basic Instructions for building your own:
Round One:  Using your plarn, chain two.  Stitch six sc into the first chain made (which is also the second chain from the hook.  Join with sl st into first sc. (6 sc).
 Round Two:  Two sc in each st around (12 sc), do not join.  Begin each new round into the first stitch of the previous round.  Use a stitch marker if it's more helpful for you.
Round Three:  (1 sc in next stitch, 2 sc in next stitch) around.   (18 sc) 

Make a mental note of how each of the next few rounds, you are adding six stitches to your round total.  Crochet is like math, but the easy kind.  If you get lost, count where you are, and correct.  Crochet is very forgiving.

Round Four:  (1 sc in each of next two stitches, 2 sc in next stitch) around.  (24 sc)
Round Five:  (1 sc in each of the next three stitches, 2 sc in next stitch) around. (30 sc)
Round Six:  (1 sc in each of the next four stitches, 2 sc in next stitch) around (36 sc) 

Continue increasing in this fashion until the base is as large as you'd like it to be.  When your base is as large as you need it to be, simple sc in each stitch around to gain some height.  Because you are not adding any stitches, you will get even height, without widening or narrowing.  Make sure you count your stitches for uniformity.  It's easy to fudge just one stitch to correct it, but it's not so easy to correct several.  Mindfulness in your stitches, patience in your mistakes will get you a long way.

If you want to insert a color changing motif or chart into your project, this is where you will be adding it.  My tip for making this easier, especially with many color changes, is to carry your work over by crocheting over the secondary strand of color when using the primary strand for the stitch you are working.  Also, to complete an accurate color change, make the last yo of your sc stitch the color that your next stitch will be.  No one likes to see carry-overs, or extra knots that don't add to the integrity of the project you create.  If you're working with plarn, please be patient and work slowly to not damage the plarn.  It's wicked tough when stitched into numbers, but can be quite delicate when working with otherwise. 

When you reach the height that you desire (in my case, it needed to fit into a 13 inch trash can so I placed it inside to measure), then you can add the drawstring portion.  To do this, I separated the round into two--for example, if there are 40 stitches, I would mark off 20 stitches and 20 stitches.  I sc in the back loops in rows rather than rounds until I reach the end of the section.  At the end of each row, I chain one, and sc across.  For this project, I did six or eight rounds, and then folded it over.  I slip stitched the edge to the front loops of the first row that had previously been worked in back loops.  This helps reduce chunkiness in the project, and make things look a little more uniform.  FINESSE!  I hope this makes sense, if anyone has difficulty with this, feel free to contact me and I can explain further if needed.  Let me see what you come up with!

Post 001: Maintaining Creativity and Motivation in the Middle of a Pandemic

Like all of us, the COVID19 pandemic has changed the way I live my life.  If I plan to leave the house, I now have to think ahead, planning social distancing measures and remembering to wear my mask.  I've been working from home mostly, since the middle of March and this has caused me to create a new routine.  I've been fortunate to not get sick, but I admittedly struggle with the new social dynamics of not seeing my coworkers and the clients that I work with on a face to face basis.  There is so much to be said about non-verbal communication and body language cues that remote platforms and video interviews cannot replace or capture.  I'm optimistic for a "return to normal," however I am also realistic enough to see that the "new normal" is very much a reality.  In this "new normal, new reality," I've taken to blogging. 

Blogging in 2020 is a little surreal.  I'm reminded of my days as a teenager over 15 years ago (seriously, how did that much time go by?!?), starting up xangas and myspaces and the introduction to facebook--just trying to communicate with the outside world and share a little slice of my life.  I remember the awkward backgrounds and profile music that we all had matted to our personal pages.  Life these days however, if a little more laid back and calm.  It is still very hard to stay motivated when not getting out much.

I've completed my fair share of projects through this time.  A big part of maintaining that motivation has been joining a variety of groups on facebook with shared interests and mindsets.  I've gravitated towards self sufficiency, crochet pages, and a few geocaching groups--mostly because there's always a crochet project that I'm working on, the fiance and I geocache when we can, and well...self sufficiency helps everyone.  While I live in a small apartment in town, I've been able to maintain a modest garden, begin some long term food storage, and take steps to making memories rather than spending my hard earned money.  I'm sure in future posts, I will be able to share some of these elements with you.

Another huge element to staying motivated has been my participation in a website called Lettuce Craft which offers a community for craft-minded folks of all specialties to share their ideas and projects.  There are even personal and structured swaps for those who wish to make items for others, in exchange for your own package of goodies.  The community there has been most welcoming.

Other than reaching out to social networking platforms, I'm motivated to take the next steps in my works as a fiber artist.  I've always wanted to make and sell my own patterns.  While this is a long way off from the starting point of today, I'm optimistic that I can climb to that place I'd like to be in the world as a pattern designer.  We will see where the path takes me.  Thanks for joining me as I introduce this new blog to the world.  Diving in!