Plarn It: The Seedy Unberbelly of Crafting

I have hit an all time low in the pursuit of the crochet craft.  I have become a thief.

Plarn materials

It all started one day at work when I got bored - good things rarely come from being bored, such as a life of crime.  I stumbled across this blog article that opened my eyes to the world of plarn, yarn made from plastic bags, and the not so green side of recycling plastic shopping bags.  I then did a quick Google search for a visual tutorial on making plarn, and from there the need to make plarn was set for addictive levels.  I immediately put out the call to my co-workers to bring me there unwanted, overflowing supply of plastic bags.

I started my first plarn ball alternating Wal-Mart bags with Kroger bags, which are a tan color.  But I quickly ran out of Wal-Mart bags, and the dilemma ensued.  I had already talked about plarn with many of my co-workers and they were anxious to see what this was all about.  The asked for demos and to see my finished product.  They brought me every sort of bag from every sort of store except Wal-Mart!  I was becoming desperate, and I knew where I could get my hands on those supplies easily.  No one pays attention to weird things that happen in Wal-Mart.  Well, actually . . .I guess I did run the risk of finding myself on www.peopleofwalmart.com (no, I am not going to put a link in for you).  When I found myself at Wal-Mart with my husband late one random Thursday night, the recycling bin called out to me with freshly discarded bags in desperate need of upcycling.  I had already resisted their charms once at Kroger mainly because I would have had to wrestle the bags out of 3 inch slit in the top of the barrel that stood to the side of the exit doors.  I still had some dignity left at that point.  But the white bags with blue writing were flowing out of this recycle bin just waiting to be plucked by a passing plarn crocheter.  Plus, my unfinished bag with 30 out of it's 44 rows called out to me in need of completion.  So, with a wink and nod from my husband I casually picked up a wad of bags with the non-nonchalance that would make a CIA handler proud.

Plarn tote bags

Since that incident, I am happy to report that my friends and colleagues have kept me well stocked.  I do still eye the recycle bins at any box store and get a giddy feeling any time a cashier puts a single item in a bag.  However, I must warn you that you invite me over I may just eye your supply of plastic bags and you may find it a little diminished at the end of the evening.

Weekend Crochet Warrior

My husband and I spent last weekend coming down with and recovering from a head cold respectively.  In other words, we sat around in our pajamas doing nothing, randomly whining about how we feel or comparing snot.  Oh, the joys of marriage. . .

The upside for me is that I was on the road to recovery and actually had unfogged enough to do something - crochet.  Since I was sick, I decided to focus on crocheting something for myself.  It's so hard to think of others when you don't feel well.

Fingerless gloves with mystery yarn

My first project was a pattern for fingerless gloves from The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Crochet by Nancy Queen and Mary Ellen O'Connell.  Since this is an item that actually has to fit, I tried to pay attention to gauge. I have to be honest and say that I have never crotched a swatch like the books always recommend.  Usually, I'm just making a shawl - it's either long and wide enough or it's not.  I haven't gotten into any of the complicated patterns with different motifs, so I'm sure at some point I will be forced to really figure out this gauge thing until then . . .I used some fuzzy blue yarn that came from the donation pile at church (don't worry, I didn't use it all on myself).  So, being mystery yarn, the gauge didn't exactly come out as specified in the pattern.  I tried changing to a smaller hook twice to no avail, so I went with the original hook size.  Everything turned out A-OK in my book.

Flapper Hat Model with cute curly hair

My flapper hat attempt

Now, the hat is another story.  I then attempted to crochet this lovely flapper style hat with some Caron Simply Soft that my mom gave me. Again, I could not for the life of me, get the gauge to come out correctly.  Also again, it is possibly because I didn't use the exact yarn called for in the pattern.  What is a cheap crotcher to do?  So, needless to say the hat did not come out quite as cute as the picture (hence the rubber ball as a model head, and not mine).  Or maybe it was some weird hope that if I made this hat and wore it on my head, I would suddenly have cute curly hair and when that didn't happen I was disappointed in that hat?  Nah, I would never have an irrational thought like that!