I wish I knew how to crochet and I would be jumping on this sweet idea

You can still get in on the act without crocheting.... make your "plarn" , but make 3 balls of it. Instead of crocheting, braid the plarn, then use thin strips of the plarn to sew the braids together. You can make the rugs or tote bags easily with this method. If you have girls, you can also braid jumpropes. when my daughter was little we did this for brownies and earth day. (didn't do this before, but why not a dog leash?)
If you're really into this, you can also you can also use it for macrame.
Happy recycling....
PPE

Ooooh--macrame!! Didn't think of that before.

:-)
Kit Kat

OMG!! I love this! I just called my best friend and issued an Earth Day challenge. Thanks for sharing the ideas and links, ladies!

Lady Buzz

I taught myself to crochet years ago with a book from the craft store called "I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting!" LOL Corny title, but an awesome resource. I still use it as a reference. It's really quite easy - good luck!

Quote

donating them to the Hope Pregnancy Center here in town perhaps. Other than that, we don't have a baby-specific place around that I know of.

Hi Nurse Wanderseek,

Check for a Threads of Love Organization in your area. They do great work for familys who have premature and still born babies. I have sewn burial gowns for the local Threads of Love in the past and need to get back to doing that myself.

Faith

"I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting!" I taught myself from this book, and I still reference it whenever I get into a project. (It's usually a long time between projects, and I forget which stitch is which.)

~LB

Just found this link--thought I would share.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/04/21/2008-04-21_designer_turns_discarded_plastic_bags_in.html

neknitter (formerly cathvs)

One of my in-real-life knitting friends was cutting up bags and putting the strips together last night so she could crochet something with it. I think she'd going with a tote bag.

Here's another site with a lot of great patterns for plarn: http://www.myrecycledbags.com/

Well, it's finished! My very first ever plarn project. It's a large oblong bag with two handles and is a total random mixture of colors. I didn't sort the plastic by color, but perhaps I will in the future if/when I make more pieces. I am happy with it. I was just looking again at some of the ones that sell for $40 to $70 and it's just mindboggling! That much money for such a simple product?! And gosh, it's just such a good idea to "upcycle" (a new term I learned a bit ago), decreasing waste and increasing useful items. Since I have this one on hand now, I'm thinking of whether I should keep it or consider selling it, just out of sheer curiosity to see how much it might go for. Of course, I need to get a picture of it on line but since my camera has died, that's not going to happen for a while.

Pondering the possibilities,
NW

Congrats! I got mine done yesterday, too. I sorted colors and went with some weird stripes, but I've started another that's going to (hopefully) be attractive. The one thing I've done with this one that's helping is cutting the strips narrower. The first tutorial I read said to cut them 1.5-2" wide, but it's just too bulky, so I've cut these bags 1" or so wide, and it's going much more nicely.

I have a pic up on my blog, for anyone who'd like to see it: http://duluthak.blogspot.com

~LB

I can't get on- something about the server. Anyone else having this issue?

Desi

me too--all I see is Bob. I guess they are working on something.
neknitter

I'm getting the Standard Bob Message -- looks like Casey's upgrading/fixing some things and it'll be back ASAP. :)

Very nice! Thanks for sharing the picture and the advice about the strips. :)

looks like Casey's upgrading/fixing some things and it'll be back ASAP. :)

Yep, been there, done that. =)

I don't even know what you guys are talking about, except that it sounds so vaguely familiar.....

-- Ryan

It's a lovely piece! Thanks for showing it to us.

NW

LOL...I bet it does. :)

You should totally check out Ravelry, Ryan...not so much for the knitting aspect of it all (unless you took it up on this last hike), but the community features and such. Casey's done a flippin' *amazing* job with the back-end coding, making it all integrate with itself and external services -- it really IS a mecca for knitters/fiberfolks, much the way that AQ is a mecca for letterboxers. :)

ravelry.com -- it's still in beta, but if you dropped a note to Casey, I bet he'd geek out with you about codestuffs. :)

it really IS a mecca for knitters/fiberfolks, much the way that AQ is a mecca for letterboxers. :)

looking for the agree button (sigh, that doesn't exist here)

You should totally check out Ravelry, Ryan...not so much for the knitting aspect of it all (unless you took it up on this last hike)

I tried knitting once, and absolutely hated it. *shrug* Which is kind of strange, actually, because I actually have cross-stitched and thoroughly enjoyed doing that. I figured knitting was somewhat similar, but ugh, I hated it. I think you can be pretty certain I'll never take up knitting as a hobby, but I will still do some cross-stitching at times. =)

Casey's done a flippin' *amazing* job with the back-end coding, making it all integrate with itself and external services

You convinced me to sign up for it just to poke around and see what they've done, but they're limiting signups. Annoying, I have to say, but I totally understand where they're coming from. I have a soft spot in my heart for those home grown websites. ;o)

I wonder if there's a website specifically for us folks running these home grown websites to talk shop. Hmm..... If not, I suppose I could create one. =) (Not that I would--AQ is a full time job already! Definitely don't need another website to run!)

looking for the agree button (sigh, that doesn't exist here)

Sounds like a suggestion, though. Tell me a little about this agree button you refer to. It might not exist here, but I'm always open towards suggestions and this is a living, breathing website constantly on the change. Perhaps I'll add one someday. I can't get onto Ravelry to check it out myself, though. But seriously, tell me a little about it. How does it work, what's it used for, yadda, yadda, yadda.

And, more importantly, do you ever post on that website and sigh about the things that don't exist there? Have you convinced them to set up a letterboxing board just for all you knitters that also happen to letterbox? ;o)

-- Ryan

but they're limiting signups

you should be able to get on in a few days. Don't delete the invitation from frecklegirl.

Tell me a little about this agree button you refer to.

I'll try to send you a screen shot so you can see what I mean.

And, more importantly, do you ever post on that website and sigh about the things that don't exist there? Have you convinced them to set up a letterboxing board just for all you knitters that also happen to letterbox? ;o)

There IS a letterboxing board!!
The users set up the "groups". Thank Idhunna for that group.

neknitter

Quote

Yep, been there, done that. =)

I don't even know what you guys are talking about, except that it sounds so vaguely familiar

Yes, but you have the decency to live on the west coast, so when you shut things down, I'm usually sleeping. Casey lives in Boston, so he tends to shut Ravelry down while I'm still trying to use it!

I was half tempted to make you look at Ravelry when you were here, but you had other things on your mind at the time. <g>

And yeah, when you get on Ravelry, you have to join the letterboxing group. There's probably also a backpacking group, 'cause there's a group for just about every darned thing you can think of!

You'll probably hate the avatars (though they're called "Ravatars" over there) but there are some good things there, from a website building point of view. It's amazing how fast we all grew to love the "agree" button. ;-)

DebBee

It's amazing how fast we all grew to love the "agree" button.

What a great idea, an "Agree" button!

Hmmm... maybe we could even take it a step further!

I propose that Message Replies have the following Buttons next to them, to facilitate common and easy communications:

I Agree (self-explanatory)
Me too! (the #1 posted message on AQ)
Did you check the Wiki? (particularly useful on the AQ and Help boards)
Look! I got another star!
I LOVE that, sign me up! (great for the LTC and Postal boards)
Cyclonic, you are such a curmudgeon (I suspect this will get used a LOT)
I don't care who y'all are, that there is funny! (specifically for the North Carolina board)
Thank GOODNESS Ryan is back, and we are free of that other weirdo. (we probably don't even need a button for this one, we should just automatically insert it into evey message)

-wassamatta_u

I just got a couple of screenshots of the message boards on Ravelry, and I'm intrigued by the various buttons. *rubbing chin thoughtfully*

I really like the thought of an agree button as a way of cutting down needless "I agree!" posts kind of thing. Might actually be useful as well a simple way to poll people about issues or ideas (since there's a disagree button as well).

Intriguing..... I've never seen message boards with that particular feature before, but my intuitive thought is that it could be useful and fun.

Besides seeing what everyone else thinks about a post, does it serve any other purpose? Is it possible to search for posts that "highly educational" or something like that?

Definitely must spend more time thinking about this idea. I'm very intrigued by it. =) Heck, if they feature was already implemented, I'd ask you to agree with this post if you like the idea or disagree if you don't! Interesting concept, though.....

But I have to ask, what's the love button for? Or am I better off not knowing? =)

-- Ryan

The love button can mean "I love this," or it can be the equivalent of {{hugs}} if someone's in need of comfort. I've seen it used both ways.

Also, some folks use the buttons as a poll. Like, "If you want option A, click Agree. If you want option B, click Disagree. If you want option C, click Funny," or whatever.

For awhile, I was clicking on Disagree with every one of a friend's posts, to "punish" her for saying she was going to come to a meeting, and then backing out. All fun and games between us, but it backfired, when a bunch of folks got mad at me. Bad Debbie!

They're mostly just fun, though. I'm not even totally sure they cut down on the "I agree" posts, 'cause people are going to do that, regardless, but maybe they do.

DebBee

I agree

Aw come on... somebody had to do it!

As well as the "agree" button, Ravelry has other buttons; disagree, educational, love, interesting, and funny. I like your button suggestions also--very creative.
neknitter

All fun and games between us, but it backfired, when a bunch of folks got mad at me.

You can see who voted what? Hmm.... In my head, I was thinking votes for the various buttons would more-or-less be anonymous.

-- Ryan

then how would you know who agreed???

romana