Not Wool...

There are so many fabulous types of yarn available, from luscious Merino to shimmery Rayon in rich hues, but I've been exploring making my own yarn. Out of plastic. While looking for a project for the Girl Scouts that used recycled plastic grocery bags, I stumbled upon many sites featuring crocheted and knitted items using plastic "yarn." It's easy and fairly therapeutic to make, and you could get really creative with all of the colors out there!

It's very easy to use on a loom, and I'm only experimenting with a small pouch-like purse for my daughter, but there are many, many cool sites out there for inspiration on using this medium!

We used it for "ribbon" on some birthday and holiday gifts

And, just a few bags, makes a good amount too. This was only one bag's worth (pink bag from Top Foods/October Breast Cancer Awareness bags)
Here are the steps on how to make your own yardage:

Lay the bag out like so...

Fold five times, fairly evenly

Trim off the top (handles) and the bottom seam

Fold the length in half and cut

Continue cutting so that you end up with 8 pieces

Open up the 8 cut sections

Lay one loop over the top of another, and

pull the loop through, connecting them

Like so...

Pull the knot tight

Keep adding additional lengths to the un-knotted end of the chain, use as many bags as you want for more yardage.

Then, wind into a ball, and voila!

You've got yarn.

Happy creating! (Amazon Fresh = light green yarn, Grocery Outlet = bright yellow, Safeway = white with red and black accents, QFC = beige, and various local shops have a variety of colors... I found bright blue and red recently.)