Why do you work with video tape? Because I have a lifetime supply that I need to get rid of.
Is that trash bag/plastic grocery bag? No, it's the tape that you would find inside a video tape cassette.
Is it woven? No, it's either knit using knitting needles or crocheted with a crochet hook.
Does that hurt your hands? No. It's quite pliable and I've yet to be injured by it.
How do you dye it? It's not dyed; the color is applied after the elements are knit/crocheted using a colorant that's formulated for plastics.
So you could be knitting over someone's face right now? Yes, but it's not anything you could see by holding the tape up to light. You're probably thinking of film stock, which you could probably also knit with but it's a lot wider tape.
Where do you get your tapes? Do you buy them at thrift stores? Do you need more? My stash of tapes comes from my garage. My husband's converting his 20+-year-long video tape collection to DVD and, as he does so, he leaves me piles of tapes. These eventually migrate to the garage where I've already amassed enough to last me most of a lifetime. On top of that I have taken in tapes from friends and even complete strangers who've found me on the internet.
Why does it squeak like that when you work with it? It's part of the charm of the material.
Could you make clothing out of it? None I'd want to wear.
Can you wash it? It goes through the washing machine beautifully. I haven't had the guts to put it in my dryer but I have steam blocked it using an iron and a pressing cloth.
That looks like a lot of work. It can be, but if you enjoy the work then it really isn't work. (And that's more of a statement than a question.)
My grandmother does that with plastic grocery bags. I've seen that, it can be pretty cool, but it's a lot more work to prep "plarn" (plastic yarn) that I want to do. With this I just remove 5 screws, crack open the tape, remove the spool and I'm ready to work. (And again, though I'm happy for your grandmother, that's not really a question.)
Is that trash bag/plastic grocery bag? No, it's the tape that you would find inside a video tape cassette.
Is it woven? No, it's either knit using knitting needles or crocheted with a crochet hook.
Does that hurt your hands? No. It's quite pliable and I've yet to be injured by it.
How do you dye it? It's not dyed; the color is applied after the elements are knit/crocheted using a colorant that's formulated for plastics.
So you could be knitting over someone's face right now? Yes, but it's not anything you could see by holding the tape up to light. You're probably thinking of film stock, which you could probably also knit with but it's a lot wider tape.
Where do you get your tapes? Do you buy them at thrift stores? Do you need more? My stash of tapes comes from my garage. My husband's converting his 20+-year-long video tape collection to DVD and, as he does so, he leaves me piles of tapes. These eventually migrate to the garage where I've already amassed enough to last me most of a lifetime. On top of that I have taken in tapes from friends and even complete strangers who've found me on the internet.
Why does it squeak like that when you work with it? It's part of the charm of the material.
Could you make clothing out of it? None I'd want to wear.
Can you wash it? It goes through the washing machine beautifully. I haven't had the guts to put it in my dryer but I have steam blocked it using an iron and a pressing cloth.
That looks like a lot of work. It can be, but if you enjoy the work then it really isn't work. (And that's more of a statement than a question.)
My grandmother does that with plastic grocery bags. I've seen that, it can be pretty cool, but it's a lot more work to prep "plarn" (plastic yarn) that I want to do. With this I just remove 5 screws, crack open the tape, remove the spool and I'm ready to work. (And again, though I'm happy for your grandmother, that's not really a question.)