Long-Eared Sock Creature

Last night I had a dream where I won a sock creature contest by default, and I hadn't even made anything. I had only said that I was going to make a St. Patrick's Day sock creature. However no one else had even said what they had planned to make, let alone made anything. So when I woke up this morning I knew that I had to make that creature. However my St. Patrick's Day socks were all footie socks, and I needed a sock with a leg to it. I found these fun polka dot socks in my stash. Yes, I have a sock stash for crafting purposes. This creature came out of the book Stray Sock Sewing: Making One-of-a-Kind Creatures from Socks by Daniel. This little guy is called a long-eared mini doll, and he is the first creature how-to in the book. He is super easy to make, and my toddler loves him. After making him, I discovered another pair of St. Patrick's Day socks in my stash that would work for this. I just might be making another one later today.

Even More Plarn

I finally emptied that large tote bag full of white and clear cut plastic bags (loops). I was able to get 5 skeins of white plarn and 2 skeins of clear plarn. The two top skeins in the picture are not a full skein. I'll add more to them at a later date.

I placed all of my tiny balls of plarn in a plastic food container. They don't get all tangled up in there, plus I can see what I have.

I still have a ways to go before I have cut up all of my plastic bags. I dropped off a bag of bottom seams and handles that was left over from making plarn in the grocery store recycle bin. Inside I saw some Hannaford and brown plastic bags. I couldn't help myself, so I took those bags to make plarn out of. Tonight I will work on my pile of cut newspaper bags. I should have a few colored skeins tomorrow as a result.

I'm almost finished making my mom's present. Once finished I want to start on a 2nd present for her. I thought that I would have to break my record of not buying yarn to buy the right color for her. However I discovered some in my stash earlier today. So far I have not bought any yarn or fabric this year.

More Plarn

It was another plarn making day. I made these 2 skeins of plarn from the white and clear bags that I cut last night. I also started making another white skein. I'll continue making more plarn tonight.

I was able to work on my mom's birthday present during story time at the library.

Downsizing the Plastic Bags

Yesterday I taught several Girl Scouts how to make plarn (plastic bag yarn). They seemed to have really enjoyed it. The 30 minutes just flew by. I will probably see them again to teach them how to make juice pouch notebooks. In fact some of them were in the classrooms that I use to collect used juice pouches from.

Since all of my plastic bag classes are now over, it was time to make plarn from what plastic bags I had left. I have a lot of plastic bags left over, a whole leaf lawn bag full of them. So last night I cut the bags and filled my large tote bag while watching t.v. When it was completely full, I joined the loops and made a ball of plarn. I barely made a dent in my plastic bag stash. So for the next few days I will be working my way through the bags until I don't have any left.

Yesterday morning I had to get my oil changed and have something in my car looked at. That can eat up a few hours. As a result I am half way done making my mom's birthday present. You got to love portable projects.

Wordless Wednesday - Color Schemes in Nature

Plarn

Yesterday and today I have been making plarn (plastic bag yarn). I did not make all of this in two days, however I did take my balls of plarn and wound them on the ball winder.

Here is my precut loops ready for turning into plarn. I am waiting to cut up all of my plastic bags until after Thursday. On Thursday I am teaching 14 Girl Scouts how to make plarn. It should be a lot of fun. After that I really need to cut all of my left over plastic bags to create more space in my house. I raided 3 different grocery stores' plastic bag recycle bins for the bags for the classes that I have been teaching.

If you enjoy working with plarn and are having trouble finding a lot of colored bags, try asking your local library to save their newspaper bags for you. They come in yellow, blue, clear, gray, pink, orange, and green. Also ask your friends to save their plastic bags for you. Both of those ways are how I get the majority of my bags.

I also started making a birthday present for my mom today. I can't post any pictures of it or talk about what it is until after her birthday, because she does read my blog.

Gift Making

Last Wednesday during the library class that I taught I made this small fused gift bag. I like how the "Thank You" is running sideways down the front.

Last night I finished knitting the 3rd ornament. This morning I finished stuffing and sewing all 3. They are a little big. Next time I'll use a smaller needle. The pattern called for a size 6 needles and I used a size 4. Now to make 2 more to reach my goal of 7. The free pattern can be found on Lion Brand's website.