Plarn Water Bottle Bag

Today I’m going to the Wisconsin State Fair! It’s a really fun day of eating fried foods, strolling around the various product vendors, and seeing cool shows (like pig races and dog dock diving!). Since there are so many different food vendors throughout the fair, many of them sell a novelty drink cup that you can fill at any participating stands. This way, you can get refills throughout the fairgrounds without the need to return to a central location. It’s a great program. My family goes to the WI State Fair every year, and we usually get two of these cups to pass around throughout the day. With this in mind, I wanted to make a bag that I could use to carry the cup easily (allowing two hands to be used while eating a giant blooming onion.. or fried oreos!!).

I was simultaneously inspired by a tutorial  on how to make “plarn.” My apartment complex doesn’t permit plastic bags in their recycling bins, so I usually collect a massive amount of them and then bring them to my mom’s to recycle there. It’s pretty silly, hauling bags around, but I could never just throw them away. So when I saw Repeat Crafter Me’s Plarn Tutorial, I knew I had to make something. Thus, the two ideas collided and I made my Plarn Water Bottle Bag (two of them, actually!).

The Pattern: I didn’t follow a pattern. I used a K hook (that’s what Repeat Crafter Me used with her plarn). I started with a basic crochet circle, then kept going in the round until it was the height I wanted. For the strap, I made a foundation single crochet strip until I had the right length, then single crocheted back around. It only took me a few hours to make each bag (I made two).

The Yarn: All the plarn! I made this giant ball using 50 bags from Mariano’s and ending up using most of it (maybe 45?) to make my two bags. Plarn was pretty cool to work with. It was fun to make – I probably spent more time making the yarn than I did working with it! It can be a little stiff and certainly doesn’t give me that “Oooo, I love the feel of yarn in my hands” feeling I love about knitting/crochet, but it’s really rewarding knowing that I turned regular plastic bags into something totally different and totally cool! A great summer project!

What’s Next for Me: I’m taking a trip to the mountains of Colorado with my boyfriend later this month. We are driving there, which is something like 15+ hours of driving (each way!) from my home in northern Illinois. As he will be doing much of the driving, I plan on spending the bulk of the car ride crocheting in the passenger seat. I’ve got an infinity scarf pattern picked out that I’m going to make using Lion Brand Amazing in Mesa so that the colors compliment the scenery.