Knit with Plastic

Knitters have come up with some pretty brilliant ideas for making yarn. T-Shirt yarn, for example, is one popular homemade alternative to store-bought yarn. One of our favorite unique yarn projects is making yarn from plastic bags. You can use any kind of plastic bag for this project, though the thin kind used at grocery stores works best.

To make the yarn, you’ll need to roll the bag into a long tube, cut it into strips, and then tie the strips together. (There are many YouTube videos and photo tutorials that can walk you through these steps. Check out this one from Instructables or this one from Etsy.)  Once you have a significant amount of yarn, you can use it to knit (or crochet) whatever you like.

In our experience, plastic yarn can be made into an effective grocery or tote bag, which is great for shopping or a trip to the farmers market. We received the bag pictured below as a gift, and whenever we use it, it gets a lot of attention. It’s functional, has a unique texture and keeps plastic bags from going to waste.