WEST JORDAN — Bonnie Dahle learned to knit and tat when she was 12. The next year, she added crocheting and embroidery to her repertoire.
She's been at it ever since — making everything from delicate knitted doilies to tatted trimmings to intricate crocheted tablecloths and afghans. She teaches both knitting and crocheting at the Stitchin' Station, a local needle craft store.
But about five years ago, she found a new way to practice her art. "My husband's niece showed me how to cut plastic bags into strips and crochet the strips into tote bags."
It was such fun, she says, that she not only began making the bags, but also started designing her own patterns for rugs, water-bottle holders and other things.
More than just being something she enjoys, it is also "my way of recycling; my way of keeping the plastic bags out of the landfill," she says.
For her tote bags, Dahle uses No. 2 recyclable bags — the kind you get at grocery stores and a lot of other retail outlets. For the rugs, she prefers No. 4 or heavier bags. She cuts the plastic bags into strips that are about an 1 1/2 inches wide, ties the strips together, and crochets them, using an H-size hook, and mostly a basic double-crochet stitch.
The plastic is a bit harder to work with than yarn, she says, but once you get used to it, it goes together well. Dahle estimates that a tote bag takes about 14 hours to complete. Bottle holders take less time; rugs take more.
It doesn't matter if the plastic bags have logos or markings; they get folded into the pattern to make random designs. "Some people tell me they think they look like little flowers," says Dahle.
A standard-size tote bag takes between 40 and 60 bags; a rug takes about 100. So, she's always on the lookout for plastic bags. "I have a lot of friends and family all over the state and the country that send me bags. It's always such fun to get a box of them in the mail and see what colors I've got."
Finding some of the colored plastic can be tricky, but Dahle has gotten to know stores by the color of their bags. "My husband and I were in Alaska, and we stopped at a store that used red bags. My husband tells people we had to go back to the store a five times to buy things — just to get the bags. But that isn't true. It wasn't that many times," she says with a laugh.
Her raw materials are relatively inexpensive, but the bags she makes are very durable, she says. "I've had a rug on my kitchen floor for several years, and it still looks new. My niece did wear out one of the tote bags, but she used it as a purse and was using it every day." The bags and rugs can be washed.
She occasionally sells them at craft fairs and such, but mostly she gives them away. Dahle and her husband recently served an LDS service mission in Nauvoo. Before they left, a local Scout troop gave them 2,000 plastic bags that were left over from a special event. "We took those along, and I used every one. I made bags and gave them to all the sister missionaries on their birthdays. A couple of months before we came home, the sisters began to come tell me their birthday was after we'd be gone. So I had to do one for them, too. I gave away about 150 in all."
She's made each of her grandkids a star rug for their bedroom, and even found enough green, purple and blue bags to fill one granddaughter's special request.
It's fun, Dahle says, and it's relaxing, which is why she has been knitting and crocheting all these years.
Those so-called "granny-chic" crafts have become very popular in recent years, and not just with the older set. A lot of younger girls and women — and even some men — have been picking up hooks and needles in recent years.
That's how Dahle got into teaching. "I was in the store one day, and they were talking about how they needed a knitting teacher. I said, 'I can do that,' and I have."
One of her classes features a sampler afghan that teaches the students a variety of different crochet stitches. She also teaches workshops on crocheting with plastic.
Dahle has recently completed a crocheted tablecloth. "Next year, my husband and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and that's what I plan to use on the table for that celebration." She's also learning how to do bobbin lace and hardanger cut work embroidery.
She likes working with her hands, she says. But the most fun is seeing the completed work. "It just makes me feel really good."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com