PlazaJen: Passion Knit

So, on New Year's Eve, before going to a friend's house for snacks & a little red wine, we went to - where else? Wal-Mart. Roger & David wanted pet supplies, and we were REALLY early - so where better to kill some time than at the world's largest retailer!

Partway through the store I got in a panic that I wouldn't have anything to "do" at the party. Originally, we were going to bring a game, but it seems that "Scene It" is THE hot game this year and unavailable, anywhere. So, I made my way to the craft department, because I had to have some back up crafting options. Yes. I know how party.

I started with three skeins of some fluffy eyelashy yarn in a vivid green, reminiscent of the medicine I was given when I had bronchitis. It's not a color I have, so it was a Justified Purchase (tm). But then, I'd need some needles. Fortunately, WM is pretty cheap, so some 10.5 circs jumped in the cart, too. You can never have too many needles, right? Then, as I was heading out, this whole section of new stuff caught my eye - purses knit with strips of fabric! I'd heard about these from someone in my knitting guild, but now I could look at them beyond online, and they even had a sample zip tied to the endcap. You can see the kits online here. I ended up buying the Purely Purple Gem Bag, and started it yesterday - don't worry, dear yarn stores, this will not be my NuPassion for 2005. It's fairly hard on your hands, for one thing. The fabric is kinda cool, but not enough to make me give up yarn, or even make these in mass production. The kit I bought had a cloth-covered handle, which I didn't like, so I bought some plastic circle handles, and will have to devise a way to knit those in. Really, the moral of this story is that Wal-Mart is actually expanding beyond the basics of Red Heart & baby yarn, and that's good news for the knitters out there who don't have a LYS nearby. The kits were pretty inexpensive - $12.94 - and the fabric strips were pre-cut (that would've been a dealbreaker for me!)
Oh, and back to NYE - the party was fun, and I didn't have to break out my back-up craftin'. But it was there, and I wasn't afraid to use it.