Crochet a Granny Circle with Plastic Bags

1. Intro: Crochet is a wonderful way to relax. And if you can create beautiful pieces and reuse trash, it's even better. That's why I love to crochet with plastic bags. Hi, I'm Naama. I'm a graphic designer and artist. In this class, I will show you how to transform simple plastic bags into something beautiful. Your project will be to create a granny circle and you can make it in any size you prefer. We'll be making yarn from plastic bags. But if you'd rather use regular yarn in your project, feel free to do so. We learn how to do the double crochet stitch and how to crochet granny circle, no matter the size. You can use it as a decorative piece or even as a practical coaster for hot dishes. I'll share a handy tip for this in the final lesson. If you're looking for a simpler project, check out my basic class where we focus on just the basic crochet stitch and don't need any patterns. Granny circles are not only colorful but also functional. We use them a lot in our home, and I'm sure you'd love them too. So let's get started. 2. Tools and Materials: What do we need to crochet with plastic bags? We need good scissors to cut the bags. If they are not very good, it can be frustrating. A crochet hook, whatever size you have. To make this one, I use a thick crochet hook. This one is size seven. But you can use whatever crochet hook you have. You just need to cut the bag to a width that will fit the crochet hook. In the next video, I'll show you how to check this. We need several plastic bags, at least eight. They can be with solid color or with a print, whatever you have. Granny circles are more interesting, if not all the rows are the same color. So it's worth combining at least two colors. In this project, I used white bags with red print, and bags with warm colors, because that's what I had and I think they make a nice combination. But just use the bags you have. The result may surprise you. In the next lesson, we will see how to make the yarn. 3. Making the yarn: So how do we make yarn from these bags? Put the bag flat on the table. Fold it like this. And once again. I want to use size seven crochet hook, so I need to cut the bag to the appropriate size. First, I made a simple template, a piece of paper, 2 centimeters wide or about three quarters of an inch. I hold it with my left hand because I'm right handed. Cut one loop, and now we'll open the loop and check if it is the right width for the hook. Take the crochet hook, fold the loop, and insert the crochet hook. Now you can see that the yarn sits nicely inside and doesn't stick out. If it sticks out, then that means you need narrower loops, 1.5 centimeter or half an inch. If the size is right, then you can use the template you made and cut the rest of the loops to the same width. After I cut a few of these, I will continue without the template. I already have an estimate of the width. If it comes out a little wider or a little narrower, it's not a big deal. I prefer to cut by eye and not with a template because it's faster that way. After we cut the loops, we can connect them to one thread. I will demonstrate with loops in two different colors to make it clearer. Open one of the loops. Hold it close to the edge. Open the second loop. Insert one inside the other and then take the tail, insert it into the top, and pull gently. If you pull too hard... I'll do it just now to show you. It will break. I'll do it slowly one more time. I want to connect the second loop in the middle here. I don't want to connect it here because it will be uneven. So I pull and hold it in the middle of the loop. Hold it close, and connect the third loop. It may look complicated right now, but after you do it a few times, it gets simple and intuitive. I usually hold it like that in my left hand. And open the next loop with the fingers of the same hand and pull it like so. Connect the loops from the bag that we cut in the same way. And now we have thread or yarn, which fits the size of our crochet hook. In the next video, we will begin to crochet. 4. Rows 1+2: In this lesson, we will see how to crochet the first and second rows To start, we will make a loop like that. Insert the crochet hook and close the loop, but not too tight. I hold the knot of the yard with my fingers so that I have a grip. We will crochet three chains. Insert the crochet hook into the first stitch and close with a slip stitch. Now we have a tight loop. In the middle of this loop, we will now crochet 12 double-crochet. It is very small, so it is a little difficult to find the middle. We will start with two chains. This will be the first column. Wrap the yarn around the hook, insert it into the hole. Pull the yarn out. Now we have three loops on the hook. Pass the hook through the first two loops and once again through the two remaining loops. And that is how you make a double-crochet. Let's do it again. We will continue until we have a total of 12 double-crochet, including the first column. I will just stop for a minute and count. There are two more left. To close this row, you can crochet a slip stitch like that. Or close in another method that I will show in the next row. For the second row, I will change color, and I will use the yarn that I prepared earlier. We will crochet between the columns, in the gaps between the double crochet. Insert the crochet hook between two double-crochet. Take the new yarn like that. No need to make a loop. In this way, there is no end of yarn left that needs to be incorporated into the work. Crochet two chains. This will be our first column. In this place, I'll crochet three more stitches. So we have one, two, three, four, double-crochet And we'll make four more in the next gap after two stitches. Here after the second double-crochet Count two stitches again, and then crochet four double-crochet In total, we should have now 24 double-crochet To close the circle, this time, I won't use a slip stitch, but I'll show you a different method. Cut the yarn. Bring it out like this. I'll take a smaller hook because it's easier. Insert it under the top stitch here, but from the back. Pull the yard out. Insert the hook in this stitch from the back, but in the middle of it. And pull the yarn back. And we'll hide the remaining yarn behind. So you can use the slip stitch or this method, whatever you like. So these are the first two rows. Because I use two different colors for the rows, the first row look like a flower or a star. In the next lesson, we will see how to crochet the remaining rows. 5. Rows3 8: In this video, we will see how to crochet the next rows. In the first row, we had 12 stitches. In the second row, we had 24 stitches, doubling them. In the next row, we will not double. We will just add 12 more stitches. In total, we will have 36 stitches. We'll do that like this. We will crochet three double crochet between every two stitches. Chain two, and now two more double crochet. And again, after two stitches, in this space, we will crochet three double crochet. One, two, in the space after two. Before closing the row, count the stitches to see that we did not miss one. Three, three, three, three, In the fourth row, we will add 12 double crochet again. In the previous row, we made groups of three, and now we will make groups of four. In the space, we will crochet two chains and add three more double crochet. Now I have four. And we will crochet four double crochet in the next gap. That will be four double-crochet, four double-crochet, and so on. Count to check that we didn't forget one along the way. At this stage, if we discover a mistake, then we can easily unravel, go back and crochet again. In the first row, we add 12 double crochet. In the second row, we have 24. In the third row, we had 36, we added 12 again. In the fourth, 48, we added 12. In the fifth, we do not add 12. You will crochet 48 double-crochet again. The triangles will spread out more. And instead of groups of four, we will crochet two pairs of double-crochet. Two double-crochet between every two spaces. Two double crochet here, two double crochet in the next space, and so on. In row 6, we repeat what we did in row 5. To double crochet every two double crochet. In this row, we will add 12 double crochet, and we will do it this way: Two double crochet, three double crochet, two double crochet, three double crochet, and so on. And so we will have a total of 60 double crochets. Let's start with three. It is a little more complex than the previous rows because you need to concentrate and pay attention. Here three. So in the next, there will be two. Two. In the next gap, we will crochet three. And so on all the way. If it is curving inward, then you can stretch the triangles a little to flatten it. This was row 7. In this row, we had three, two, three, two. In row 8, we will increase by 12 again. We will crochet three, three, three, three, three all the way. And in total, we will have 72 double crochet. And we are done. We have all eight rows. If you want to add more rows, in the next lesson I will show you how. 6. How to add rows: So how do we add more rows? In row 8, we finished with groups of three. Here is row 8. In row 9, we increase and make groups of three, four, three, four, total of 84. In row 10, groups of four, total of 96. In row 11, we do not add stitches and make groups of two double crochet every two. The principle is: in each new row, we add 12 double crochet. And every four rows or so, we do not add more but repeat the same number of stitches. And this keeps the circle flat without unwanted curves. How to increase beyond that? You can simply repeat the pattern as we have done so far. Row 10 is like row 4. Row 11 is like row 5. Row 12 is like row 6 and so on. And you can just try it. And if the row seems too big or too tight, you can unravel and add double crochet or subtract double crochet. 7. Final tip: Congratulations. You finished the class. Here is a final tip. You can use the circle as a doily but also as a coaster for hot dishes. The heat will not melt it, but it might shrink the yarn a bit. When you use it for the first time, place baking paper on top. Carefully, place the hot dish on top and use it to iron the coaster. This is how we prepare the area in advance and avoid unexpected results. I made this one a few years ago, and I used it many times with very hot dishes. There are so many things to do with everyday materials. I hope this class inspired you to reuse plastic bags instead of throwing them away. For more ideas, check out my teacher page to see what more you can crochet with plastic bags and how to make furniture from cardboard boxes. I'd love to see your work. Each circle will be unique. So let's make a gallery of circles. Please post your creation in the project gallery here and share it with us. If you have any questions or insights, you can post them here. I value your opinion, so please leave a review, even a short one. It helps me to promote my classes and to improve them. Thank you very much for watching this class and for sharing your creations.