Cheap Yarn - Uh, Plarn

 Plastic yarn, or plarn, can be used for a number of projects that need to be water resistant, bug-free, light-weight, or cost-effective. I don't recommend using it for afghans as it is not breathable and doesn't feel as nice as regular yarn.

You can make the strands thicker or thinner according to your preference or pattern need. It's very simple.

Let's say you have a number (or a lot) of clean plastic grocery bags lying around. And let's say you would like a nice sturdy strand of plarn.

Lay them flat, like this:

Next fold them in half lengthwise and in half again. This quarterfolds the bag.

Now cut off the handles and the seam at the bottom of the bag. Throw the ends away.

Cut across the folded bag in the widths of your choice. I like using 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide for crocheting. One lady who weaves sleeping mats for homeless people, cuts the bag in half and uses the 6" wide pieces for weaving. It makes a thicker, more comfortable mat.

Now open the slices to make long loops.

Now we attach the loops to make a long piece of plarn. Remember linking rubber bands together when you were young? Same thing with the plastic loops.

Bring the ends of two loops close to each other.

Run the end of one loop through the end of the other one.

Take the tail of the loop that just passed through the other. Open the end of the loop you just put on the inside and pass its own tail through the top part. (I hope that is clearer than mud.)

When you tug on the two ends, you should get the two ends wrapped around each other in this kind of knot. You can pull it as tight as you like, but you might want to keep it loose enough to adjust later. Sometimes, as you add more loops, they don't come out exactly even, and you might need to adjust the length of the two sides of the loop.

When you add them all together, you might be surprised at how much length you can get out of one plastic grocery bag. Wind them in a ball, and you are ready to go.

I like turning what could be garbage into something useful.

Check around and see if you can find stores that offer different colors of plastic bags. Don't forget to use newspaper covers. The loops are a lot shorter, but they still work for your project and may come in some interesting colors.

In another blog post, I'll show you how to cut single-strand plarn for items that need a more delicate yarn.

Thanks for visiting with me, and happy crocheting.

Kathi