Yarn choice for Knitty "Brown Bag"

[cookworm]

I saw Knitty's lunch bag and thought it was a clever solution to the disappearing lunch bags at my house too!

Maybe I'm being kind of a cheapskate, but the yarn cost at around $14 seems kind of pricey to me. Yes, I realize it will be used over and over again, but lunch bags are pretty cheap (just usually something I forget to buy at the store while I'm there!), and I can't see it paying for itself unless it were to last through a ton of lunches. I'd need to make two of these, and at almost $30...well, I was hoping to keep the project cost a bit lower.

The pattern calls for Cascade 128, which is a chunky yarn (3 sts / 1" on size 10½ [6.5mm] needles). Is there a cheaper wool yarn I can use for this that anybody knows of that would be a good substitute?

[Cristy]

WOTA (Wool of the Andies) from Knit Picks is 100% peruvian wool and comes in chunky weight now...It would be MUCH cheaper...

[ChroniclesofYarnia]

The knitpicks bulky yarns are that gauge. You could also check out what's on sale over at Elann through their yarn search engine.

[HamaLee]

You could probably use a cheap worsted and double strand it to get gauge/sturdiness...

[koolbreeze]

i used WOTA. it says gauge doesn't matter on the pattern... i think i saw that!