Plarn Creations

01/03/2024

This was my “passion project” for my time off. Made from (mostly) Save On Foods bags for a beautiful friend of mine. I’m glad it’s out of my brain and exists and now I can move onto the next one 😁
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01/03/2024

Some bracelets that made their way to new homes over the past weekish 😊 (I made more, and some keychains, but forgot to take pictures 🤦‍♀️ lol)
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12/11/2023

Making my way through seasonal depression, one happy making flower at a time 😊
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10/01/2023

Tonight’s project(s)

09/19/2023

Some little flowers I’ve been working on 😊

09/07/2023

I ordered some itty bitty beads a while ago, I finally made some itty bitty plarn creations with them 😊

09/04/2023

I (mostly) finished my vacation project! 😁
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A week and a bit ago a lovely friend and fellow creator gifted me some VHS tapes to crochet with. I got to work experimenting with it right away! Turns out it’s more difficult and time consuming to get at the tape in a VHS than it is a cassette lol
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I’ve been imagining this project for some time, so I already knew what I wanted to do. I grabbed an old blank CD from my basement, crocheted around it for the base of my purse and then continued with triple crochets to create the rest of the bag (I knew I would be impatient to finish and that I would be lining it, so I wasn’t worried about the larger stitch). I hadn’t planned on changing colours as I went, but I should have known I would get bored of the same colour and switch it up lol but I like how it tuned out. It took me 1 full VHS and a bit of a second to complete.
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I used an old pair of my daughters jeans to line it (probably a thicker fabric than I should have used, but I didn’t want to pay for lining and I wanted it to be sturdy), putting my awful sewing skills to work! Thankfully, a friend of mine upgraded her machine a while back and I bought her old one, so I had a nice machine to work on 😊
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I made the draw string and the strap and hand stitched it all together! The only thing I’m missing is some beads for the end of the draw strings, I don’t have anything on hand and I don’t know exactly what I want, so I’ll be on the lookout for the perfect accessories for my new bag in the coming weeks 😁
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I know it’s not perfect, there are things I wish I had done differently, but I feel that way about most of my larger projects when they’re done. Even so, I’m so happy I did it and something that has lived in my brain for months is now in my hands. It’s truly satisfying.
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I’m very bummed my 12 days of vacation is coming to a close, but it was lovely to have time off with my kiddos to rest and relax and create. Tomorrow is back to school and back to work! Ugh!!! Hahaha

09/02/2023

Some of my newest creations that make me so happy 😊

09/02/2023

09/02/2023

So, I made my first plarn jewelry sale this weekend 😁 a pair of sister earrings for my FAVOURITE(only) sister! Lol
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With that, I am opening Plarn Creations for custom orders (within Canada only). If you need some plarn jewelry in your life, let me know! I have been doing my best to save my Stories to the highlights in my profile, please take a click through and let me know what you would like. I do have limited colours in some plarn styles at this time, but I would be happy to work with you to make you what you want and I’m continually on the lookout for new plarn colours to add to my collection 😊
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Pricing - cassette tape triple wrap bracelets will be $10 each and earrings/necklaces/anklets will be anywhere from $20-$40 depending what you want.
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Reasoning behind pricing - cassette bracelets are easy to crochet and I don’t have to “make” the “plarn”. All my other plarn needs to be made - plastic bags need to be cut into thin strips, then knotted/heated together, then rolled into balls and crocheted with - it’s quite the process (I have some videos I will hopefully share soon to give you a better idea how my plarn is made)
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Please message me with any requests, I’m happy to work with you on pricing if you really want something, I want you to have it and wear it and gain joy from it, just like I do 😁
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09/02/2023

Pre-Plarn Part 5: I kind of forgot I wanted to share this one too lol behold, my crochet pony bead lizard 🦎
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This was my 1990s revival project and it was a time consuming pain in the butt lol it took nearly a month to make all the “beads” and I used all my scrap yarn on it. It turned out pretty cool, but I’m not sure I’ll ever make one again, it took forever and I dislike projects that drag on. But, I’m glad I made it, it makes me happy, and I hope it makes you happy too 😊
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09/02/2023

Something that makes working with plarn different from crochet with yarn or cotton - magic rings/circles are all but impossible.
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For those who don’t crochet, a magic ring is something that is usually used to start projects like flowers or amigurumi (small stuffed yarn creatures) to make a tight closing to start a circular pattern, the flowers in the first picture are made with magic rings. The space in the centre of the flowers is quite small. (See the puff flowers from Pre-Plarn Part 3 a few posts back for another example of a magic ring)
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“Usually” crochet is started with a slip knot, a magic ring is essentially a big slip knot that you stitch into. When you have the amount of stitches you want in the magic ring, you pull the end of your yarn/thread and it tightens the ring, making the tiny hole in the middle. You can’t do that with plarn lol the friction from the plastic does not allow for you to pull the end and even if you manage it, the stitches on the magic ring do not slide together like they do with yarn/cotton.
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This posed some issues when I first started my plarn journey. My first solution was the one I used before I mastered the magic ring (it’s not easy when you first start - I watched A LOT of YouTube videos to figure it out lol), which is starting with a slip knot, chaining 4-5 stitches, then securing with a slip stitch into the first stitch, you use the ring you just made to crochet your project around, as if it were a magic ring. While this was a fine method, I wasn’t thrilled with how things were turning out. The hole in the centre wasn’t always the same size because if my tension was a bit off in my base chain, it caused for different sizes centres (I made a couple pairs of earrings like this and I’m sure no one else would notice, but I sure do haha)
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I bought a bunch of different size jump rings when I started making plarn jewelry to attach the plarn to the earrings, necklace, whatever. I’m not sure when I had the idea to crochet around the jump rings, but that was my next plan.
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Everything I make now starts with two jump rings, usually 6mm, in place of a magic ring or chained circle (I tried it with one, but because the jump rings have a break in them, the tension pulled it apart and ruined my project lol so, I make sure the breaks are on opposite sides when I hold them together and I haven’t had a problem since 😊) I had also found with my other starting method sometimes the flower I was making would lose their shape or curl in on themselves, they don’t do that anymore. You can see the jump rings inside the flower in the third picture, once I sew in the loose tails, you won’t be able to see them anymore.
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So, there you have it, why magic rings don’t work on plarn and what’s really inside my plarn creations lol