Homeless Mats

Our life group took this on as a project.  As we began to work on the first first mat, several observations emerged.  First, it is a slow process that can be organized in an assembly line fashion.  Folding and smoothing takes quite a bit of time.  The time to make a ball of plarn (plastic yarn) 6 inches in diameter is about 2-3 hours.  Second, we discovered having our folks smooth bags at home to bring in and then taking strips home to assemble helped make our time cutting much more efficient. Finally, it is surprising how soft the fnished mat feels.  It is not a mattress, but then it was never designed to be.  Having worked through one complete mat, our expections have adjusted to what we can really accomplish and we're excited to be working on them.

The directions we started with follow, but there are several video examples on YouTube that explain the process thoroughly.

Materials
Plastic Bags (clean - grocery store type - need 500 - 700 per mat)
Scissors or rotary cutter
8 mm or size "P" crochet hook

Preparation
Place bag in a lengthwise position
Fold in half lengthwise, then fold in half again
Cut off the bottom seams and top handles
Cut the bags into 2-2.5 inch strips
Interweave the loops by placing one end through the other
Roll the strips into a ball

Crochet Directions
Using a size "P" crochet hook, make a chain 36 inches long
Make loops loose with space between each loop
Crochet one extra loop at the end of the chain for a turning point
Return to the 3rd loop to make row two
Continue until the mat is 6 feet long
Crochet from front to back to avoid puckering
A finished mat is 3 x 6 feet
For a tie, crochet 2 rows of single loops to make an 80 inch string
Connect the tie to the middle top, this allows the mat to be rolled up for transporting.

A great video is available at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TGTX1ZpUzQ