Purplelicious … is that even a word? … Well, it is now as it’s perfect for describing the scrummy colour of my most recent recycled bag that I made for a huge fan of purple. Yes, I meant to write this months ago but life got in the way again!
If you follow me on social media you may have noticed I make bags using bread bag plarn usually combined with King Cole Recycled Cotton Aran as a colourful and strengthening addition. But their purple just isn’t purple enough for this one, It’s too pale. I wanted a really vibrant purple to match the bright personality of the person this bag was for.
I’m so glad I had already thoroughly researched the recycled yarn market and written my post with a huge array of choices, because there was a wonderful alternative in that list (link at the end of this post).
Let me introduce you to Welcome yarn …
I found this gorgeous purple, recycled cotton, the Barbante XL, a chunkier and firmer alternative to King Cole recycled aran, at the fabulous UK based Woolly Whatknot. I’m sure it’s available from other sellers worldwide too if you’d like to get your hands on some and you’re not in the UK. This isn’t an affiliate link, just there to help you find the product.
It’s described as a macrame cord but it’s really just a thicker yarn, wound the same way as yarn so you can easily knit and crochet with it.
I worked with double strands, just as I do with the King Cole and it produced a thicker and really firm fabric. It’s very robust and resulted in a very sturdy bag. It would also work well for baskets, I hate floppy baskets! I have several designs in my notebook for gorgeous baskets but haven’t been happy with the materials I’ve tried so far. I may be experimenting with the generous remains of this skein now the bag is finished.
Every time I make a bag it’s usually unique. I haven’t written up the patterns properly yet and they tend to change for each bag. I like that though. I do love a bit of uniqueness don’t you?
I do intend to write up and publish the patterns. I just keep getting side tracked with other designs!
This bag seemed to take an awfully long time, not because it was complex but firstly because I couldn’t get the plarn washed and dried due to the rain over the summer! Every time we had a good day I’d have a few loads of our family washing to get through, so it took a while to get going.
Once I’d got a big batch washed and dried, I made enough into plarn to get the base done. Yay and we’re off … on went the first band of cotton … looking gorgeous, I’m really happy … until it’s time for the next band of plarn and I found that my painstakingly washed and dried bags had been stored with the unwashed ones so I now had no idea which was which!!! Arrrrrgh noooooo! Back to waiting for the weather again!
It came, phew … and then so did a new addition to the family. So that was plarn making and crochet completely off the table for a while! But once he settled in, I sussed his sleep patterns and knew when I could safely graft away while he slept … if I was really quiet and didn’t dangle ANYTHING!
So it was quite a journey to the creation of this one, but it was so worth it.
Of course, it’s not just a bag, it’s a super fab eco warrior bag, that has given new life to approximately 50 bread bags and supported a yarn company who turns textile waste into yarn instead of draining more of the world’s resources to make new materials.
That’s why I make them. I just need to move to a hot country where I can efficiently dry the bags using mother nature’s abundant sunshiny resources. Well I can dream …
Hello. To clean bread bags, I make a solution of 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup white vinegar. I spray the bags lightly with this solution. Then wipe bags with a towel. I let the bags dry on the kitchen counter for an additional 10 minutes to make sure they get completely dry.
Do you rinse them out with water first? I have to, to get the tiny crumbs out.