Plarn Patterns

I've noticed that a lot of people are looking for plarn patterns.  Please note that working with plarn is heavier going than using regular yarn.  Take breaks every so often so as not to hurt yourself.

Here are some good places to find patterns for using up your plarn.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#query=plarn

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/search.php

Here's a good place to find out how to make plarn:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycle-Plastic-Shopping-Bags-into-Yarn/

And several good places to learn how to make it and more ways to use it.

http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=making+plarn&skin=corporate&t=all

While you are cleaning out the odds and ends that make into something else, check out this website for learning to make t-shirt yarn.  Grab a largish hook and off you go!

http://knitting.about.com/od/yarn/ss/t-shirt-yarn.htm

Happy crafting,

Kathi

A Comment on Plarn

Sometime back, I was cutting plastic bags into loops and making things with the resulting yarn.  I crocheted a small rug, loom knit a purse, and made a few other things.  The biggest project I worked on and the one I still am adding to, is a plarn braid.  I'm braiding three strands together, making three braided strands, and braiding those three braids. 

I had thought to construct a clothes line out of plastic bags.  It makes sense.  Easy to keep clean, strong enough to carry a good load, and weatherproof.  I have about 30 yards of triple braid finished.  I had a plan to go up to 50 yards.

We had a garage sale and I decided to use my clothes line for hanging up shirts.  I stretched the braid between three of the posts on our porch and hung up the shirts.  For the next day and a half, almost every time I went out, I needed to tighten that line.  It stretched more than I would have thought.

So here's my conclusion.  I may not need to do any more braiding.  It will get to fifty feet without any more help from me.  Also, plarn may not be the best material for a clothes line after all.  I will figure out something useful to do with it, and eventually it will hit its maximum stretch.  Then we'll see how good a clothes line it makes.

Happy crafting.

Kathi