Sometimes I get busy with projects and forget to blog about them. The experimenting that I've been doing with my latest plarn project has been kept behind the scenes, so I figured I should take a minute to share what's going on.
Ever since I made my Giant Plarn Rug, I've been looking for an improvement to the design. My original creation was a bit of a novelty; just a neat way to use up a stash of bags that has grown too big. But even after making that monstrosity, I still have tons of bags! My free time has been filled with cutting and joining loops.
I'm still keeping the material wide but I've cut it thinner than before, making three loops from a bag instead of two. And even though I can cut more bags at one time with my rotary cutter, I'm finding the paper cutter Dad gave me to be a much safer option... The blade constantly comes loose on my cutter, and I'm afraid I'll end up having an accident with it. I already had one case where I dropped it, and stupidly tried to catch it. I'll spare you the pictures of the bloody aftermath.
Being more confident that I won't loose a finger while working has motivated me to work more often at making plarn. My original idea was to use up my stash making mats for the homeless, but I need to stop this perpetual problem first... I just don't have enough time to keep cutting, so the stash continues to rebuild with each weekly shopping trip. Yes, I'm a horrible person and still use disposable bags. After many times of taking my reusable bags along to Walmart, only to turn around from unloading the cart to see my things being packed in disposables, I just stopped taking them with and have since given them away. I think I'm going to use some of this test material to whip up a few new reusable bags, then try again to reduce the amount of bags piling up. I just don't know if finger crocheting with extra-thick plarn will be a good idea for a bag...
But I guess I'll find out soon, won't I? It should work fine for larger items, but something small will probably fall out.
Back to making the plarn... After the first few tries with the paper cutter, I thought it was a failure. If I can't cut at least five bags at a time, then the machine it isn't efficient enough to work with. I was having to chop two and three times to get through the material, and it was leaving sloppy cuts. Then, thankfully, I reviewed the next two photos for the tutorial I'm making:
I saw on camera what my eyes didn't see in front of me. The bags are wider than the blade! No wonder it wasn't chopping all the way through them. The cut I made in that stack was so horrible, I figured it couldn't hurt to try folding them in half and cutting again...
And it was a success! With them folded in half, I found I could cut through six bags at a time, but no more. I think if I have to chop more than once, them I'm probably just damaging the blade of the cutter. I'm cutting each bag into three loops, which makes them about 4" (10 cm) wide.
So, I'm happily slice-chunking away at my bag stash, and it takes me less than ten minutes to cut enough bags for one of the granny squares I'm making. It takes me about ten more minutes to join the material, and then maybe another ten to crochet the square. But after half an hour listening to the nonstop rustling of plastic, it begins grating on my senses.
And that's why I'm experimenting with these giant two-round grannies... One and done. Crocheting shouldn't irritate me. I don't have a project sitting with active stitches, and there's no pile of plarn getting tangled where I leave it. If I don't have the time to work on the project, then the rest just remains a bag full of bags. But maybe if I get motivated (or some HELP), I can get more than that done. I used to really like working with plarn, but I seem to have lost my fascination with it. Knowing the material is piling up is causing me anxiety, and I think I just need to get all these bags out of my house so I can go back to yarn and
Ever since I made my Giant Plarn Rug, I've been looking for an improvement to the design. My original creation was a bit of a novelty; just a neat way to use up a stash of bags that has grown too big. But even after making that monstrosity, I still have tons of bags! My free time has been filled with cutting and joining loops.
I'm still keeping the material wide but I've cut it thinner than before, making three loops from a bag instead of two. And even though I can cut more bags at one time with my rotary cutter, I'm finding the paper cutter Dad gave me to be a much safer option... The blade constantly comes loose on my cutter, and I'm afraid I'll end up having an accident with it. I already had one case where I dropped it, and stupidly tried to catch it. I'll spare you the pictures of the bloody aftermath.
Being more confident that I won't loose a finger while working has motivated me to work more often at making plarn. My original idea was to use up my stash making mats for the homeless, but I need to stop this perpetual problem first... I just don't have enough time to keep cutting, so the stash continues to rebuild with each weekly shopping trip. Yes, I'm a horrible person and still use disposable bags. After many times of taking my reusable bags along to Walmart, only to turn around from unloading the cart to see my things being packed in disposables, I just stopped taking them with and have since given them away. I think I'm going to use some of this test material to whip up a few new reusable bags, then try again to reduce the amount of bags piling up. I just don't know if finger crocheting with extra-thick plarn will be a good idea for a bag...
But I guess I'll find out soon, won't I? It should work fine for larger items, but something small will probably fall out.
Back to making the plarn... After the first few tries with the paper cutter, I thought it was a failure. If I can't cut at least five bags at a time, then the machine it isn't efficient enough to work with. I was having to chop two and three times to get through the material, and it was leaving sloppy cuts. Then, thankfully, I reviewed the next two photos for the tutorial I'm making:
I saw on camera what my eyes didn't see in front of me. The bags are wider than the blade! No wonder it wasn't chopping all the way through them. The cut I made in that stack was so horrible, I figured it couldn't hurt to try folding them in half and cutting again...
And it was a success! With them folded in half, I found I could cut through six bags at a time, but no more. I think if I have to chop more than once, them I'm probably just damaging the blade of the cutter. I'm cutting each bag into three loops, which makes them about 4" (10 cm) wide.
So, I'm happily slice-chunking away at my bag stash, and it takes me less than ten minutes to cut enough bags for one of the granny squares I'm making. It takes me about ten more minutes to join the material, and then maybe another ten to crochet the square. But after half an hour listening to the nonstop rustling of plastic, it begins grating on my senses.
And that's why I'm experimenting with these giant two-round grannies... One and done. Crocheting shouldn't irritate me. I don't have a project sitting with active stitches, and there's no pile of plarn getting tangled where I leave it. If I don't have the time to work on the project, then the rest just remains a bag full of bags. But maybe if I get motivated (or some HELP), I can get more than that done. I used to really like working with plarn, but I seem to have lost my fascination with it. Knowing the material is piling up is causing me anxiety, and I think I just need to get all these bags out of my house so I can go back to yarn and
Happy Crocheting!
Comments
Post a Comment
This is not a political website. Any comments with political content will be removed. Y'all need to learn how to act right.