Blog Action Day - wot I did today.

I was told about Blog Action Day by one of the moderators of Bolton Freecycle and as I have already blogged about using plastic bags to knit with, I thought I would help this global environmental effort by ruminating on how I help the environment.

I have knitted with recycled materials - the aforementioned plastic bags and also video and audiotape. I hope to do more of this in the future.

Also, my stash is so enormous I am working through it and only knitting with yarn from my stash. This will taker me about 5 years to use up so I haven't bought any new yarn for about 6 months - this has had a lot to do with me being broke as well though!

I am also a member of my local Freecycle group and so try to stop household goods and other things going to landfill.

The other great thing about being involved in Freecycle is that I have made loads of new friends in the Bolton area; some of whom are quite creative types. Having lived in Bolton since 1989, I can safely say I have met the most interesting people within this last year through Freecycle.

I am also a keen bookcrosser, which means that I sometimes buy new books but those that I do buy I pass onto to others through bookcrossing. That's the theory anyway - I now have so many books in my house I can't see the floor in some rooms; at least I am saving money on carpet and floorcoverings...

If I can't pass books on or they are too old and battered to be read anymore, I recycle them through the wastepaper collection run through the local council.

It is "bin day" tommorrow so I have sorted out my plastic, tin and bottles ready to go into the green crate, which is collected every fortnight. I also have a bulging bag of wastepaper. (This is collected every week by a company called Paperchase, who raise money for Bolton Hospice I think).

I also demanded a huge green wheelie bin from the council when they came available. They were understandably reluctant as my house isn't big enough and posh enough to earrant a big bin all of my very own. They have been proved right, unfortunately - I only have a small back yard and an even smaller front garden but I still should be filling it to the brim every fortnight. However, usually I only manage a few pathetic onion and potato peelings which lie sadly at the bottom of the bin.

So I should try harder at that really.

I also help the environment by not driving a car - this is more because I am too poor to afford one and also most importantly, I am useless at driving! I have the attention span of a flea, get easily distracted by Lloyd Loom chairs outside shops and the like while driving with an instructor and cannot grasp the concept of clutch control. So I have never managed to pass a test.

I should be a green bike rider and pedal everywhere but I am useless at that as well. I do toy with the idea of buying an adult trike every so often and enjoy dreaming about cycling to the shops like Catweazle. In reality, I would probably show the same road sense demonstrated when driving and thus be a danger to small children, old people and animals of all description.

The other thing I do daily to help the environment is being a VEGAN. People try and make me feel guilty about the rainforests being burnt in order to grow soya but I take no notice - that soya is being grown for cattle feed, not my milk, so there. (I have no idea if this is true).

So I am a bit of a flawed eco-warrior really but I probably do more than most people, maybe.

How to cut up a placky bag...

Further to massive public demand (well, one request!) I will dedicate this post to instructions on how to cut up a plastic bag into strips suitable for knitting.

These instructions are my take on those given in Simply Knitting (October issue I think) .

First take a plastic bag:

Cut off the handles (top part) and the bottom (seamed part)

You will now have a big plastic tube.

Now fold the plastic tube up so that there is about 2cms showing at the top.

Cut into the rolled up part of the bag so that there are strips of about 2cm wide. Do not cut up to the top of the bag (if you do, it isn't the end of the world but you will have short strips and you will have to tie the strips together).

You should then have a piece of plastic with plastic strips hanging down.

Cut into the top part of the strip diagonally to the left so that you get a continual strip (like orange peel).

If you cut too enthusiastically or too straight and get shorter strips, don't worry, you can tie them together.

Then roll the strip into a ball and repeat with more carrier bags, knotting the strips together as you go.

Presto! A ball of plastic strips...

Recycled knitting

After extolling the virtues of recycling at the Rivington Freecycle Festival in June I have been exploring knitting with plastic bags.

Following on from the Festival, I was asked to do a talk about knitting to a local ladies circle in early August.

I had to talk for an hour - normally I don't have a problem with this but was a bit worried about being sensible about knitting for a whole 60 minutes. I thought if I did a practical demonstration and gave them some ideas on how to knit with recycled materials that would go quite well.

As I guessed, many of them were senior citizens and quite a few of them could knit already (and were probably much better at it than me!). So that was quite a good plan.

I dismantled a couple of videotapes and also 2 audiotapes and made a small bag from some Patons Splash I had left and the video tape.

I think they thought I was a bit barmy but some of them had a go, I gave away some yarn (one of them was making Easter chicks) plus they paid me a tenner! At least it was a memorable talk...

And I bought 2 jars of homemade jam.

Since then, I have finished another bag made from plastic bags which I have donated to my good friend Linda to show to her friend Pam who runs a health food shop in Manchester.

I said I would sell them for £10 each but I was a bit drunk at the time and they do take quite a long time to complete.

Plus knitting with plastic strips is hard on the old hands.

I am now knitting with yarn again - what a relief!

Let's all recycle now, c'mon let me show you how...

The lovely Lisa organised the first ever Freecycle / Natural Earth festival recently. It was held at the Art and Photography Centre at Rivington on Sunday 24 June and was a great success.

This photo shows Jackie from Bolton Knitting Noras and others having a go at making woven rugs from fabric under Lisa's supervision.

I decided to organise a stall to promote recycling and also publicise my local knitting group, Bolton Knitting Noras.

The plan was to knit with strips made from plastic carrier bags and so show visitors the possibilities of using recycled materials to make something new and unique.

As I am an exceedingly bossy and busy person, I also had a Bookcrossing stall set up next to my knitting stall - both attracted a lot of interest during the day.

Up until the last minute I wasn't sure if I was going to make it so I was rather unprepared; however, in the days before I made some plastic bag samples, some small knitted flowers and created a small bag from 6 cut up Morrisons carrier bags.

I was going to sell the flowers but ended up giving them away to young visitors.

My lovely friends Anthony and Jen turned up to help me run both the stalls - Anthony did sterling work talking to people about bookcrossing while I knitted with plastic bags. I met a young "eco-warrior" from Wigan - he tidies his school and picks up litter, and his dad, a councillor is going to invite me to knit with recycled materials at Wigan schools with the kiddies.

I also sold some Knitty badges and made the grand total of £8 which helped pay for the band's lunch.

They were called S R Gents and were wondrous to behold; I loved the slouchy hats - Tom Waits is one of their friends on Myspace apparently and I ain't surprised as he's been wearing a selection of fine hats for years so I reckon he knows what he's talking about.

http://myspace.com/srgents

Lusting after the band aside (who, me?), I had a great time promoting knitting and chatting to people about recycling. Anthony took a picture of me and "my wares" I think the stall looks lovely though I say it myself, wish I was as equally photogenic (shame about the chins)

Vicky from Bolton Knitting Noras has devoted a page of her wonderful blog to the event, which is rather more professional than this sad attempt:

http://web.mac.com/vhjeffery/iWeb/Site/Blog/ECC684F6-6C4E-4BD2-933E-CE933DBFD99B.html

There is a great picture of me and Jen in action with our needles.

I really enjoyed the event (particularly the performance by the gorgeous band S R Gents and their equally lovely hats) and will definitely do it again.

Lisa has vowed never to organise another one though; go on, Lisa, you know you want to.