Plastic Icky Bags

Yesterday I wrote about laundry soap and the like. By the by, I switched over from Downy ($$) to plain ordinary generic white vinegar (cheap and cheerful) as well. The only noticeable difference is that I don't have that overwhelming scent left behind in my clothes now. Anyhoo, today I am thinking about the ubiquitous plastic crappy bags they want to give you at every store. I have always loved the look of the string bags people use in Co-ops, whole foods, etc and thought I could make them. So I started looking for patterns for string bags, tote bags, shopping bags of all kinds.

What I found was millions! of different patterns out there. Whatever your hobby or inclination there is a way to make a shopping bag using that. But so far, my *favorite* is using those plastic crappy bags to turn them into a fantastic tote bag. You can google plastic bag yarn and find loads of instructions on how to do this, but this one is my favorite because of the great visuals.
http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/bag%20cutting%20instructions.html

Once you have your "plastic yarn" made up and rolled into balls it is so easy to crochet it into the cutest bags you ever saw.
Like this: http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/Plastic%20Bag%20tote.html

or http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/round%20plastic%20bag%20tote.html

Now what you will notice is that these are so cute when a stripe of a different color is thrown in here and there. In order for this to happen with a minimal amount of trouble, try only rolling balls of plastic yarn of like colors. I had a big paper shopping bag (Williams Sonoma) full of the different balls. Some were all white and black, white, black and red, solid black, yellow with black, blue and white, red and white, etc. Then it is really easy to just switch off yarns whenever you want a different color stripe.

It takes about 65 bags to make a nice tote bag. And that is about what? two or three regular shopping trips worth? I actually had so many of these all folded up about the size of a credit card that when I started making the yarn balls and crocheting bags, I ended up with enough to put everyone's Christmas gifts in rather than wrapping paper.

Places like Whole Foods will give you a nickel back on each of your own bags you bring in. Nothing like a little positive reinforcement to get a habit started. If you make them about half that size they make the cutest little bag to use as a purse, too. And they are all totally washable. I tend to use these for when I buy meat or items that may leak and then I just wash them out in a sink of soapy water and hang them up to dry.

Occasionally I find a few of the plastic crappy bags have snuck back into my house and when they do, they seem to multiply in the dark. I think it might be time to start making some more yarn balls and using them up. Mr. Big Ed and I got through a huge quantity of these while watching a movie one night. It doesn't take much time or effort, really. And it is a good feeling knowing that thousands of these bags now have a new purpose, and thousands more are not coming home with me.

Do plastic bags bother you? Do you re-purpose them in some other way? I would love to see new ideas for these!