Plastic Fantastic!

Despite everything in that last post, I've never been one to allow myself to stay focused on a single project until it's finished! So, naturally, this weekend I started something else new. Partly, this comes down to my intense need to start de-cluttering my house with immediate effect, now that I have a strong urge to move and an even stronger realisation I have too much stuff, so moving will be hell (if I even find a big enough place)!

A while back, I got hold of a copy of Knitting Green and I liked some of the ideas in there, particularly with regard to reusing fabric in your knitting. And while I was researching the idea of knitting with fabric, I also stumbled on people knitting with plastic bags! Well, I have a lot of spare fabric in my sewing and fancy dress boxes, but all of that is tidied away; my unwanted plastic bag collection, however, is a mountain on one side of my kitchen! And I hate just throwing the things away, having seen the images of dumps littered with them, despite the fact they say they're recyclable.

It was time for a new recycle-balls project!

I used the pattern for the On-the-go Bike Basket-Purse from Knitting Green:

and combined it with this helpful video on how to create fabric strips from plastic bags (although I've been cutting them about a centimetre thick, rather than an inch as she suggests), and it went thus:







Initially, I did attempt to knit the base to the sides using a circular needle, but because plastic bags don't have a lot of stretch and give (without tearing), I gave up and decided to knit the two pieces, and then crocheted the edges together at the end. Rustically cool! So now I just have to line it with material (off to my fabric boxes!) and add some handles and bike clips. I predict a day of sewing at some point this holiday...

PS For plastic bag enthusiasts/connoisseurs, I used Sainsburys (orange), Superdrug (pink), Marks & Spencer (green), and Asda (white with green specks). I may have a go at something else with my multitude of Tesco, Wilkinsons and Boots at some point. ;)


I've also thrown out a couple of old bed pillows that were quite literally falling apart at the seams, but I've kept the stuffing from the centres, so I'm hoping to use some of that in some toy making projects at some point too... :) Lots to do, and only two weeks to do it! Oh well...