Conditioning Plarn (Plastic Bag Yarn) for Crochet

Crocheting with plastic bag yarn (plarn) presents a different challenge than crocheting traditional yarn. The most obvious reason is that plarn is flat while traditional yarn is tubular. To remedy this, the plarn must be “conditioned” for crocheting/knitting. This article seeks to present ways to “condition” plarn for needlework.

Click here to learn the methods of making plarn.

The most used conditioning technique for plarn is spinning. According to Wikepedia, "spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic fibers are twisted together to form yarn. ".

Essentially, spinning plarn means twisting it a million times to convert a flat plarn into tubular form. I have not tried spinning because I don’t know how to spin, don’t have the tools necessary for it, or the patience to keep twisting, keep twisting, keep twisting. From what I discern from forums and threads discussing plarn, most spin it for the following reasons:

• Plarn is flat, which makes it difficult to crochet, especially when it is thick. Spinning plarn softens and makes it tubular like regular yarn.
• Spinning plarn allows it to be combined with other regular or traditional fibers and yarns creating an endless array of effects.
• Crocheting with spun plarn creates a crisp and strong finished item.

VIDEOS

I searched YouTube and the videos by Kristy Medina are the easiest to understand for a novice like myself.

The first video shows how to spin VHS tape using a top-whirl drop spindle.

The second video shows how to spin plarn on a Navajo spindle, which to me is similar to a bottom-whirl drop spindle, except that its a lot bigger. You can order a Navajo spindle here because I can't find any in Amazon.

The third video shows how to spin yarn on a spinning wheel and to ply/combine plarn.

As I have said earlier, I don’t know how to spin. I’ve only crocheted plarn for almost a year now and in my early projects, I crocheted “unconditioned “ or flat plarn. This was just fine if you use plarn from thin and soft plastic bags. All you have to do is to make sure you crush the plarn in the nip of the hook as you crochet it.

But as the days go by, I encountered plastic bags that are not soft. When I crocheted them, the resulting item had rough edges where the plarn was folded by crocheting. That was the cause of itch in plarn when it comes in contact with the skin.

Just recently I had this wonderful idea of crushing/crumpling the plarn before crocheting. I realized this after I had to untangle an almost-finished crocheted item because I ran out of plarn. I noticed how soft it was when I crocheted it again and there were less rough edges. However, crocheting-and-untangling-plarn technique for conditioning plarn screams TEDIOUS to me. So I thought that if I pass the plarn in a narrow hole, that should crumple it enough to make it more pliable for crochet.

My first try was with the hole in my key. It works fine but I lost the key. So I had to find other alternatives. I tried a hairpin. It was great but the hairpin is bit wobbly. It’s difficult to keep it steady as you pass the plarn in it. I saw this plastic fork from a fast food chain and thought “Hmmmmm… why not?” And that was it! I can form a narrow hole with it using my fingers and it’s big enough for me to hold steady as I pass the plarn.

See the picture HOW TO SOFTEN PLARN. how I position my finger and the plarn on the fork. The middle and index finger on the front side of the fork, the thumb at the back of the fork and acts as a guide for the plarn that is inserted on one of the gaps in fork. The other hand pulls the plarn away AND downward from the front side of the fork.

I’m not sure if I’m the first one to share this technique or if others have already discovered it before me. So I just named it “softening” plarn.

Although I have not tried spinning, I believe that spun plarn is better than "softened" plarn. However, "softened" plarn is better than flat plarn. So if you run low on the virtue of patience (like myself), "softening" plarn is the way to go.