Materials: 12 mm (US 17) needles
1-2 100g balls Darn Good Yarn Hemp yarn

Click Here to Get the Hemp

(Note: the amount of yarn and number of plastic bags needed depends on how big you want the mat to be. The mat in the picture is 32 stitches or eight squares wide and 48 rows or 12 squares long and measures about 18 inches square. It took about 15 bags of assorted sizes and two half-balls of hemp.)

Using the cut-up plastic bags and two strands of the hemp, cast on a number of stitches that is divisible by eight.

Rows 1 to 4: Knit 4, purl 4 to the end of the row.

Rows 5 to 8: Purl 4, knit 4 to the end of the row.

Continue in a four by four checkerboard pattern until the mat is as big as you want it to be.

© 2009 Faith Cormier and Darn Good Yarn.

Sample Boot Tray/Welcome Mat

Here is a great super stretchy tote bag that helps you save the earth too! It’s super easy and knits up quickly. It took me 2 nights to complete.

I use this bag to carry packages of all shapes and sizes to the post office. I also double its use and stick my mat in it for yoga class. The stretchy quality of it allows for a stand size mat to fit completely in it with room to stick your blocks,water and jacket in!

Here’s the recipe to make what I call 80 Ways to Save the Earth Tote (or 80 WTSTE Tote)

Whatchya need to succeed:

80 Plastic Bags made into yarn (see my video above for easy instructions to make this yarn!)
You’ll also need 1 kit of of the “Darn Good Yarn Wild Peacock Recycled Silk Yarn”. When you purchase this yarn as a kit, you get a great savings than if you purchased the yarn individually. Click here to purchase.

1 pair of US13 knitting needles
Black Nylon cord (or you can use the yarn),
94 Aluminum Can Tabs *
80 plastic bags

*So, you can see I made the strap out of can tabs. I get tons of emails from people saying OMG I will never have that many can tabs. Well, what you can do is simple and a pretty alternative to this strap: Purchase two skeins of our Recycled Silk Strip Yarn. Then, braid it and attach it! It would be stunning, soft and very easy to fabricate. Check it out and choose the strap yourself! Click here for more info.

Another note with regard to this pattern. There is a ton of flexibility to making this pattern. If you would like a small bag use less bags and decrease the amount of stitches your start out with. If you would like the over look less stretchy then go ahead and work it in moss stitch.

Gauge isn’t that important on this project. For me each side measured 1ft 4 in across by 1 ft high. And, I’m serious…this puppy stretches.

Please wait for the video to load here!

So here’s how to make it!
CO 50 stitches.
Knit 2 then purl 2 straight across and then be sure to end each row on two knit stitches.
Work this for 1 foot and then BO and of course weave in ends.
Make another panel.
To sew the two pieces together I just used the Wild Peacock Sari Yarn to do this!
I then turned it inside out (which would be right side out )This gave it a nice square shape.

For the can tab strap: Please refer to the video I made on how to make it. If you decide to use nylon cord or the silk figure out how long you’d like the strap. Say you’d like a strap which is 12 inches, multiply that by 3.5 and that will give you 42 which is how long of a length you should cut. The strap shown here is 2ft 7 inches which means a cord length of about 110 (It’s better to have more cord than not enough). Then to secure it you can use whichever thread (nylon or silk) to the sides. Just be sure to secure it really well!

Please wait for the video to load here!

For the Silk Strip Yarn: Braid up the strap and be sure to put knots in both ends of the braid. Then, sew it on the seams on the bag. Make sure you super-secure the strap on and the braid is super tight. I recommend two skeins of the silk strip yarn because you can double or triple up each “strand”. So instead of braiding with three strands of yarn you could use 6 or 9 depending on how thick you want the strap and how heavy the items you’re carrying around are going to be.

Get a Great Deal Now! 80 Ways To Save The Earth Tote Bag Value Yarn Pack