Plarn; a labor of love?

I am making new, durable objects out of something we think of as worthless trash while transforming it in such a way that most people I have come across don’t even know that these were once plastic bags.  But, reflecting back over my long history with plarn, I sometimes wonder, “is it worth it?”

To say that crocheting with plastic bags is labor intensive is an understatement quite frankly.  If you are unfamiliar with the process allow me to break it down for you.

First, I collect the plastic grocery sacks.  Simple right?

That is step one, and already I have hit my first obstacle because I do not have the opportunity to procure bags in the normal fashion.  I’m not saying that I don’t accumulate plastic bags because I am a canvas-bag-toting-saint.  I am saying that my husband works at a Trader Joe’s and does all of our grocery shopping.  He should use reusable bags exclusively but he doesn’t.  Instead he usually uses the paper bags that Trader Joe’s give out (and reuses them over and over until they wear out).  In fact, I didn’t know that TJs even had a plastic bag option until Jon prof read this post.  But I digress.

So where do I get all my plastic bags you wonder?  A couple of places.  First, I have a number of friends and family members who save up their bags and give them to me.  This is how I get the majority of my bags.  But since most of my closest friends and family members try to use reusable market bags whenever possible (which is a good thing!) it can take quite a long time to accumulate the quantity of bags that is necessary to create the products that I make.

The other way that I obtain bags is a little more tricky.  I go to super markets and take the bags that other people bring for recycling.  Yes, you heard me correctly; I steal plastic bags.  Now here I will rant a bit because this bothers me.  Why should I be made to feel like a criminal for taking something that nobody wants (plastic bags) and recycling it?  Once, I went to a local grocery store (the Giant Eagle on W 117th, Cleveland) and I wanted some used bags.  My husband was with me and for some reason he decided that he wanted to actually ask the manager if it would be all right if I take the bags.  To our surprise his answer was NO, it was not all right!  At this point I told him why I wanted the bags and his response was, “well how am I to know for sure what you will do with the bags?  For all I know you could take them and throw them in the lake!”  I kid you not, that is what he said.  Then I went to another local super market (Marc’s in Lakewood, OH).  The first time I went I asked the person at the customer service counter if I could take their recycled bags and was relieved when the man said “of course.”  I did this on a couple of occasions until one day I went in and the bin where the bag are returned was bolted shut!  I now only resort to “stealing” bags when I am particularly desperate for a certain color, or my supply is non-existent.

The next step is sorting the bags.  Above is a particularly good haul of plastic bags that my mom and brother collected over several months and gave to me all at one time.  Each bag is checked for cleanness and sorted by color.  Below I have made small bundles of like-colored bags, which breaks them into more manageable amounts when I go to make them into plarn.

After I have at least 30 or so bags of one color I’m ready to make a ball of plarn, which involves cutting each bag, one at a time, and looping the individual pieces together, as shown below.  For a more detailed explanation of this process you may want to read my tutorial on how to make plarn.

Wow, that was a lot of work!  But wait, I haven’t even “made” anything yet!

Next comes the fun part, crocheting the ubiquitous grocery bags into handbags, durable messenger bags, baskets, and cute little owls that sit in your home and make you happy.  This is the part that reminds me of the classic children’s story, Rumplestiltskin.  Instead of turning straw into gold I am transforming trash into…

some lovely purses…

owl wristlets…

a chevron messenger bag…

acorn baskets…

and cute owl decorations.

I enjoy coming up with different crocheted designs and finding old purses past their prime to take apart and use their zippers, buckles and handles.

But what about the question that I pose in the title of this post; is plarn a labor of love?

This is something that I have been thinking about more and more in the last few months following my participation in the Last Minute Market.  I had a wonderful time at the show.  It was the largest show that I have ever done to date and it was also the first time that I showcased ONLY my plarn items (as opposed to a hodge-podge of upcycled items).  The lowest price point at my table was $25.  To me this was all such a big risk.  What would people think?  Would I even sell enough to cover my table fee?  Three hours into the eight-hour show without a single sale I was beginning to have serious doubts.  But I didn’t give up.  The entire day I stood next to my table and engaged each and every person who walked by and gave my work the slightest side-ways glance.  I greeted them and asked them things like, “do you know what these are made of?” motioning toward my table.  To my surprise, most people couldn’t guess that everything on my table was made from plastic grocery bags.

That’s when I would bring them over to my table and show them the poster below as I briefly explained the process.  As I did so I could hear the excitement in my voice about how I developed my technique over the past seven and a half years, and how when I started I barely knew how to crochet at all!

Inevitably they would come to the same conclusion and ask the same question, which were, “this must take you a long time!” and “how many bags does it take to make one of these?”

Though I do my best to estimate how much time it takes me to make one of my purses and how many bags I use, the truth is that it is impossible to calculate.  Okay, maybe it’s not technically impossible, but it’s not the way I want to spend my time, making plarn and crocheting take long enough as it is!

However, what I suspect is at the root of their questions and comments is this, “is it really worth your time to do this?”  Excellent question, and one that I’m trying to figure out for myself.  It’s a question that a lot of craftspeople face, which is, ‘can I really charge what I would need to charge to pay for my time’ (because let’s face it, in my case that is all you are really paying for since the materials are mostly free).

The answer is…

No, I could never really charge enough for the individual items that I create to make my time worth it.  Yet I still keep making them.  I make them because it really is a labor of love; it’s something that I need to do.  I need to make these things with my hands.  I need to share them with other people.  I need to photograph them and write about them and talk to other people about them.  I need them to leave my home and live their own lives with other people.  I need them to be made out of trash, because it is the act of making something out of nothing that is attractive to me.  Plarn gives me an avenue to design and invent while appealing to my sensibilities toward the environment.  And now that I’m a mother, I want to pass on the ideals about reusing, recycling and resourcefulness to my daughter.

If you have liked this article I invite you to follow zween on Facebook.  You may also like to check out these previous blog posts that I have written about plarn specifically:

Crocheting with plastic bags; a six year journey
Toot Tuesday; Making Plarn
Wise Owl Plarn Wristlets
Cheveron Ombre Messenger Bag

Baby Steps

It’s a new year and it’s starting out to be a good one!  Above is a recent project that I tackled (more on this later) that ties together what has been going on in my life these past few months.

Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a creative slump.  It’s winter, it’s cold, it’s dreary.  That never helps.  But it’s more than that.  I’m working more hours in my “day job” and I tire much more quickly than I used to.  Oh yeah, and I’m pregnant with my first child!

As of today I am 16 weeks along and every day is an adventure as to how my life is changing and will be completely different from now on.  I’m going to prenatal visits with a midwife, I listen to podcasts about pregnancy and babies (to learn about things such as birthing options, baby carriers, breast-feeding/pumping, etc.), I watch documentaries about the current situation most American women find themselves in when giving birth (Pregnant in America and The Business of Being Born are two of my favorites so far and are currently able to be streamed via Netflix), I follow along month by month with my used copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, and I keep in touch with my good friend, Sarah, who is my pregnancy mentor, since she just gave birth to her first child three months ago (congratulations Sarah!).  What a great source of support and knowledge!  My husband and I are taking things one day at a time and trying not to stress out too much about the whole thing.  So far, it seems to be working.

Now that the first trimester is over and I’m regaining some of my previously lost energy, I feel more motivated to make things again (besides just this baby).  Motivation has been a real hinderance lately.  Though I want to start creating again, I find myself feeling a bit blocked as to what I want to do.  Do I continue making things almost exclusively with recycled materials?  Do I continue seeking out shops to potentially sell the things I make, as well as keeping up with the shops I’m already in?  Do I switch gears completely and just start making things for this baby?  I think the answer is probably to do a combination of all of these things.

Sometimes it’s the hardest to just get started, especially after what feels like a long break.  Taking things slow is probably a good way to start, which is how I came to make this crocheted baby dragon.  But let me back up first, because before I could make anything, I had to get organized.

On January 1st we took down all of our Christmas decorations, clearing the slate for the new year.  After that was done I was ready to do something that had really been getting me down; cleaning out my studio to make room for the baby.  I realize we have plenty of time before the baby will be here but it felt good to find new homes for all my tools and supplies.

The long, low dresser filled with my most essential tools (scissors, glue, hammer, pliers, crochet hooks, knitting needles, fasteners, etc) found a perfect new home as a buffet in our dinning room, conveniently located next to our dinning room table,  which is an excellent place to work.  The vintage suit cases underneath store finished products and also double as displays during craft shows.

On the underutilized side of our living room, my work table found a new home right next to a small closet which previously housed little more than our vacuum (not too necessary with all hardwood floors).  After moving the vacuum to the closet of the baby’s room, I had plenty of space for bigger essentials such as my sewing machines, irons, ironing board, sewing threads, and my most frequently used yarns.

My favorite feature of this storage space are the shelves that hang from the top to the door. We found these for only a dollar at a yard sale last summer! Now I can store and see all my little do dads such as buttons and beads. Love it!

Other, less used supplies, are now stored neatly in the attic and are still easily accessible.

I mention this because having an organized workspace is very important to many people’s creative process, including my own.  Though I feel lucky that I had a whole room to use exclusively for my work for an entire year, it did pose a problem of its own; it was impossible for me to keep it organized!  Now, with everything out in our living space, I am forced to clean up after my projects daily, since I am now unable to just shut the door and forget about it.

Now that I was organized I had to think of some things to make.  I started by processing a bunch of plastic bags that people have been giving me into new plarn.  Though it’s nice to have all those bags made into plarn and ready to be crocheted, I haven’t thought of what I want to make with them next yet.  So the plarn is on hold for now.

Then I started to look at my yarn stash and see what I wanted to make with that.  I couldn’t think of anything so I turned to Ravelry for some inspiration.  That’s where I found this free Baby Snow Dragon Pattern.  Originally, I had set out looking for something cute to make for my new baby.  Since this little guy has safety eyes it’s not exactly baby material since I guess it could be a choking hazard.  But it was the perfect application for my last bit of my green silk bamboo yarn, and since I haven’t done much amigurumi yet, it was a good exercise in the process.

More importantly, it got me making again, happy to be using up yarn in my stash, and excited about having a baby to make cute things for.  And I guess that’s all that really matters right?

PS- Doesn’t this baby dragon look like it needs a hug?

PPS- Here are my baby bump pictures that where take every two weeks starting at 12 weeks and ending with a picture that was taken today.

12 weeks

14 weeks

16 weeks

This post has just been added to Made By You Mondays over on Skip to my Lou!

A Natural Evolution

During the Rowdy Indie Craft Fair a couple of weeks ago a young girl, probably between five and seven years old, spotted this basket on my table and excitedly announced to her mother, “mommy, mommy LOOK!  It’s an ACORN!”  Her mother, probably realizing that I had not meant for my basket to look like an acorn, seemed a bit uncomfortable and (needlessly) embarrassed.  She was right, I hadn’t meant for it to look like an acorn, but after the girl pointed it out I thought, hmm… that’s a great idea!  And so I made an acorn, and then another.

And then there was this little guy who I started making on a whim one day.  I didn’t want him to be just a plushy (and since he’s made with plastic bags, he wouldn’t be very plush now would he).  So he became a weeble wobble.

Today I finished this purse that incorporates the owl motif.  The shape is similar; it’s mostly just bigger and has a slightly flatter bottom.  I also added a recycled zipper and handles of course.

These projects are a microcosm of the evolution that my work (and life) have gone though.  With each new project something is learned or discovered and the road to the next project is paved.

I think about this a lot, and not just in terms of crochet.  It’s easy to feel behind in life.  Like I’m not where I should be.

When I start to feel like this I think of all the things that I’ve done that I look back on with any sort of fondness, pride, or satisfaction; trips I’ve taken, jobs I’ve had, projects I’ve finished.  Then I think about all the things that had to happen before I was able to do those things.

About six months ago I created this website as a platform to share my projects, ideas, and inspirations.  One hundred posts later, I’m still evolving.

This post was just added to Made By You Mondays on Skip to My Lou.  Click the link to check out other entries!

To keep up with zween, please become a fan on Facebook.

Where am I going? A July Challenge

Today I watched a very interesting video called Etsy Success Workshop: Crafting a Well-Rounded business.  This video features Becky Johnson of Sweetie Pie Press and Church of Craft.  During the course of this hour-long video, Becky talks about her background and how she developed her creative business.  It’s a very inspiring story and it made me think about what it is that I’m doing and where I want to go in the future, and more importantly, what steps I need to take to get their.

As a creative person, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in individual tasks while losing sight of the big picture.

For the month of June I gave myself a challenge to write one blog post per day.  It hasn’t been easy and June isn’t over yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It was a big challenge for me because, like most people, I don’t always have something particularly profound or interesting to say every single day.  But by forcing myself to come up with a post, I really stretched myself to find subject matter that would be interesting to write about and (I hope) to read about.  I was surprised to see how my subject matter feed organically from post to post, sometimes inspiring a continuation of a thought while sometimes veering off into unexpected directions.

Though I don’t plan on posting new content everyday once June is over, I do plan on continuing to post regularly (probably 3-4 times per week) and really push to make the posts that do get published on this blog to be of high quality.

June was very much blog focused.  So where should I go in July?

After watching the before mentioned video, I’ve decided that I really need to focus on making zween a real business.  I’m still at a loss as to what that means to me, but July will be all about finding that out.

What will be your personal challenge this July?

Announcements

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my Skull Giveaway this week!  I got a lot of fabulous suggestions and I really appreciate it!

Though I had many awesome entries for this contest, the winner of the giveaway was Kelly P with her entry of “tiny garden gnome.”

My next announcement is that zween now has it’s very own e-mail address that you can write to if you would like to contact me directly without writing a comment here or posting on the facebook wall.  You can find it on the new page at the top called “contact,” which replaced the page called “facebook.”  You can still find the link to zween’s facebook page on the contact page.

Finally, if you really liked the skull pin and live in the Cleveland area, I will be teaching a class in needle felting at Crafty Goodness on June 5th at 2pm.  The cost of the class is $20 and you can find all the details about it on my “events” page.

What does zween mean?

zween comes from Arabic and means:

Beautiful, cool, cute, lovely, pretty, kind, attractive, appealing, unique, wonderful, pleasing, fine, delightful, ideal, exquisite, dazzling, elegant, magnificent, marvelous, superb, excellent, interesting, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…

In the context of this blog, zween is about embracing a D.I.Y. attitude and celebrating the handmade.

Why?

Because our planet is becoming a more homogenous place every day and I do not want Wal-Mart to take over the world.

Because I appreciate the handmade and recognize creativity in each person.

Because Do-It-Yourself is a good mantra to live by and there is a small but growing army of people doing so.

And because as an individual with a blog I have the power to help people create not only things, but experiences to enrich their lives which aren’t available at big box retailers.