Come Learn and Share Information about Recycling, Crocheting & Recycled Crafting


Little Plarn Christmas Bag

November 26, 2010 6 comments
Plarn Christmas Bag

Time to kick of the holiday crafting with this little plarn Christmas bag I crocheted. Isn’t it adorable and guess what — its free to make. All you need is a few recycled plastic bags to create this cute little striped gift bag. So grab about 3 red, green, and a white plastic bag and cut them into plarn. For this project you want your plarn to be real thin so I cut my strips only about 1/2 inch wide.

With the built-in handle, you have a ready made gift bag perfect for that special little gift item or you can slip a gift card into your recycled plastic gift bag. My inspiration was Kristy’s ornament pattern as I tried doing it in plarn (plastic bag yarn) and it came out way too big. So I just modified the top and added the handle for a closure.

My little plarn Christmas bag is 6 inches wide by 3 inches tall. The handle is 3 inches long. Using a H crochet hook, I basically followed the pattern by Kristy until row 18 which was my last row to work. I marked the center of my bag by laying it down flat. Sc around in each stitch of this last row — at the center chain 3 and skip 2 stitches to create your hole for the handle. Then Sc in each stitch around to other center mark for the handle, chain 22 for handle. Skip 2 stitches and Sc into last stitches of row and finish off.

Volia — Your recycled Christmas gift bag is complete. You also can come and join the fun over at Retro Housewife’s Green Holiday Carnival that I am participating in this weekend.

Working Plarn in the Round

November 22, 2010 4 comments
Round13

As you may know, many of my crochet patterns are worked in the round and without joining. This has become a very popular and handy way to make crocheted bags and rugs so you do not need to count rows or use stitch markers. I have had several people contact me asking for clarification on how to work in the round. So I taken a few pictures and created this picture tutorial which hopefully new crocheters and other crafters who are not familiar with this process can benefit from my tutorial.

I have chosen one of my favorite patterns and will illustrate how to work plastic bag yarn or plarn in the round. Here is my signature recycled bag purse pattern which is crocheted in the round.

The first step is to chain 26 for this particular pattern.

Hdc in 2nd chain from hook and in each stitch down to the end.

Crocheted Neck Wrap Scarf

November 13, 2010 12 comments
Neck Scarf Flat


I present my crocheted neck wrap scarf. It is crocheted in the round and just slips over your head. As shown, it can be worn up over the chin and nose. It would make an excellent neck warmer and face warmer for winter and for snowmobiling.

You can make it smaller and larger as desired by just adjusting your beginning chain. I have made several of these and found the snugger fitting ones work better for staying up on the nose. You can wear it just around the neck but this scarf gives you the option of pulling it up around the chin and nose to keep you extra warm.

This is a very quick and easy project that uses less than 3 ounces of worst weight yarn. These neck wrap scarves make excellent gifts and would be a great Christmas gift too. Enjoy the free crochet pattern below.


Crocheted Neck Wrap Scarf

Finished adult scarf measures: 11 inches wide by 7-1/2 inches long
Hook: Metal G (4-4.25 mm) sized crochet hook
Materials: 3 oz Camo Super Saver Worsted Yarn

Rnd 1
Ch 65 loosely and then join to the beginning to create a circle. Be carefully that your chain is not twisted when you join the first round. […]

Newspaper Bags Upcycled into a Water Bottle Holder

November 5, 2010 4 comments
Newspaper Bags Upcycled into a Water Bottle Holder

Time for a new recycled plastic bag project. Things have been a little hectic lately and I haven’t been able to craft and post new patterns as frequently as I would like. But this week I was able to get some plastic newspaper bags cut up into plastic bag yarn. I just love this beautiful shade of pink salmon that my local library gets their newspaper delivered in. For those people who may have not read my fat bottom bag post, these beautiful bags are being saved by my local library. I pick them up about twice a week and it’s a wonderful resource for me to be able to obtain unique and colorful bags for my recycled crafting projects.

I actually counted the number of bags I used in this crocheting project. It was 29 plastic bags. I cut them about 1 inch wide and interconnected them together using the loop method. Each newspaper plastic bag results in about 17-18 loops if anyone is interested. Anyway this water bottle holder holds a 32 oz Nalgene bottle or a store bought 1 liter bottle of water. Because these plastic bags are a bit thinner I used a K crochet hook rather than my standard N hook. The smaller hook provided a tighter stitch and a sturdier water bottle holder.

Please enjoy the free crochet pattern below and happy crafting to all!

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Recycled Newspaper Bags Water Bottle Holder Pattern

Material Needed: 29 salmon pink newspaper plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips and connect into plarn.
Plastic newspaper sleeve bags were used in this project. Cut the strips and assemble
just as you do in this plarn making tutorial.

Hook:
Metal K (6.5 mm) crochet hook

Water Bottle Holder Size:
Bag – 5-1/2″ wide, 7″ long, with 4″ round bottom
Strap 40″ long & 2″ wide
Fits water bottles that are 32 oz reusable bottles or 1 liter plastic bottles

With pink plarn, Ch 4, Sl St to join in first st of chain to form ring.



About Me

Hello, I’m Cindy or aka RecycleCindy. Welcome to my blog site that is dedicated to recycling and crafting. I love to crochet and create crafts and other useful things from recycled materials. I share many free tutorials and patterns for creating recycled projects as well as other handmade items.


Here is a direct link to all my free patterns available here on My Recycled Bags.


Thank you for stopping by to visit and for your interest in My Recycled Bags!