I Found the Hidden Treasure!

  I often complain about having to shop at Wal-Mart. It's too busy, the aisles are full of pallets of stock that isn't being stocked by an employee, the employees that should be stocking said merchandise are often standing in the way as they talk to each other, I'm sick of the rotten fruits and vegetables for sale in the produce department, and I'm tired of the cashiers putting my bread and ground beef in the same bag. Yet somehow almost every week, there I am, complaining that they're always out of whatever it is I'm looking for... Taking over two hours to shop because when behind the doors of Wally World, the words "excuse me" become magically silent to the ears of customers and employees alike ... Leaving with only half the items on my list and twice as much as I came for...


  Wal-Mart, what is this spell you hold over me? Oh, that's right: The Hidden Treasure! (That, plus you're the only store that sells the food my dog eats...) Besides the internet, I have two places available to buy yarn: One major chain-store that I'm currently boycotting, and Wal-Mart. Neither has a beautiful rainbow wall of fiber. Neither has a nice place to sit and stitch. The most exotic blend you'll find is 85% wool, 15% Rayon. And neither has anybody that even knows anything about yarn. (In fact, one cashier called it "ribbon".) But one of them has this:

  CLEARANCE! This is my chance to pick up acrylic and novelty yarns for cheap! (What's even better is that $3 price tag dropped to $1 at checkout!) It's the stuff I haven't tried yet, the stuff nobody wants to work with, and the stuff that's been unraveled and tied into knots. It's my Hidden Treasure.


  Why "hidden"? Because Wal-Mart, that's why. Where do you think you would find the yarn that's on clearance? With the yarn, right? Nope! Most Wal-Marts now have that vortex of a clearance aisle that will suck you over to the side of the store you don't need to be on, just to see what's in The Vortex. (This of course being a vortex within the vortex that is the Vortex of Wal-Mart. The whole thing will cause a tear in the space-time continuum someday...) And when you reach The Vortex, you'll probably need to look somewhere on the bottom shelf. They don't always have it. But if you find it, sometimes it's in a cardboard box; sometimes it's in a plastic bin or basket. Look out for that cardboard box folks, because they put a tall box on the bottom shelf, with no cutout in it... And you'll never know it's full of $1 yarn until you pull it out! Here's all of the Hidden Treasure that I wrestled out of The Vortex this time:

  The town I live in doesn't have an LYS (Local Yarn Shop). The entire county doesn't have an LYS. You can drive out of the county and through at least two more towns before you can get to an LYS. It's only a day trip, but I can't leave the county right now. No, no, no... I'm not in trouble with the law or anything! It's because the stupid car I bought breaks every time I try to leave town. It's jinxed. It's holding me hostage. I gave up trying to get out, and I'm stuck here until I get my truck fixed.


  So being sorely in need of an LYS with real yarn, I think I overcompensate on the clearance aisle. If you search through my "Wednesday Wishlist" posts, you'll see that I've got my eye on a few really nice yarns. Ones that I need to save up for, because I'm too broke right now to spend $30 on a skein of yarn when I have a stash full of stuff. (And that truck's gotta get fixed!) I shouldn't have bought it. I spent less than $10, but still...

  I couldn't pass up the color of this Boa, because it's going to make something perfect for my kid. (Ahem... To Kid, who sometimes reads the blog: Don't ask. It's a surprise. No, it's not purple, but you'll like it anyway. You didn't read this, and I don't have that yarn you see in the pictures.) I sat down with it that night and started working a test swatch.

  Boa can be difficult to work with. I find it easier to find the stitches when I combine it with a strand of worsted weight, like in the Furry Fingerless Gloves I made Kid. But this time Boa's going in solo, and this color is killing my eyes. Break time.

  Ooo, isn't that better? Let me stress how much this ball of With Love called to me. It was the only one! I spent ten minutes digging through three boxes to make sure. Yup, it's the only one. This combo of colors would never be my first choice of picks for myself, but I became immediately attached to the purple:

  And then I noticed the blue... Next, the green started to grow on me. And in the end, I kinda forgot that I don't like yellowish colors. Instead of the usual "yuck" feeling that I get from these happy hues, it gave me a calm, serene feeling.

And how could you not love that purple? 

  I think the serenity I feel from the combined colors is due to my favorite spot in the back of my yard. There's always something magical to find back there, so I like to carry my camera with me when I go. The flowers look a little pink in the following pictures, but they're really purple. Not as purple as this yarn's purple, but not pink like they look in the pics. Even with the pinkish-looking flowers, I can still find some similar colors between this yarn and my photos of what I've dubbed "Magic Fairy Land". 

  So I found Hidden Treasure at Wally World, and I have these treasures in my own backyard. After the nightmare of navigating The Vortex of Walmart, I need a walk back there while holding my serene skein. The weather will be cooling off soon, and I would love to drag a table and chairs back there to work with inspiration. But... Snakes, spiders, a possum, and chiggers (that's a bug that crawls under your skin) like it back there sometimes, too. (You can read about some more unfriendly central Florida creatures in this post.) I need to find a way to make a nice people spot while not disturbing nature too much. Until then, maybe I'll make myself a nice wrap out of my new yarn so I can take Magic Fairy Land with me wherever I go.

Happy Crocheting!