Stars . . . they're just like us!

thanks for the target pics, I cannot allow myself to go inside because of the shopping... glad to know I can make cute bags for Christmas presents though! ( and you know we'd bail you out for photo-lawbreaking, just get Jen to make an ad on the side-bar "Bail CAP outta Jail"

And your nails look gorgeous dahling~!
- Brianne
(there were 0 comments when I started this....)

I just started taking a sock class -- I guess I'll look for a bag class now!

I'm not a knitter (I know, the shock!) but these are really cute.

I was in Target last week and thought about Laurie sneaking around taking pictures of stuff for all of us when she goes to Target. I contemplated taking a photo of something (I can't for the life of me remember what it was) but I was too scared! Just call me Queen Wimpy of Atlanta.

That definitely looks like the same bag! Glad to see the manicure still looks great! Hooray for more knitting, I'll dream with you!

I love all of them!!! I *WANT* all of them!!!!

damn credit card with limits and all... :P

I'm lovin' those purses. Maybe we'll shop for school supplis and Target, and Momma can pick up a little something for herself. : )

What a gorgeous manicure, Laurie! I'm jealous!!

I just found out that while knitting can be created by machine, crochet cannot. Anything that you buy that is crocheted was actually done by hand (probably 5 year old Guatamalen children working 23 and half hours a day....but that's a whole nother topic.)

The good thing about the purses is that they look pretty easy to duplicate, although probably not as cheaply as $14.99 though!

Wow! Three of my favorite things combined. Target, knitting and purses. Now if I can only get my local one to hold a SnB I'd be soooo set!

You ARE lucky not to be kicked out of Target! I know folks who have been kicked out of stores just for writing down prices. Comparison shopping, not industrial espionage...now there's a job for ya Laurie! Industrial espionager!

There are patterns all over the internets that were "inspired by" these pricey little bags:

http://www.margaretnicole.com/banglebags/

I just finished one. Very cute! Of course, you did have a bangle bag way back when...

Geez, I love Target! However, this is two days in a row that I have to wait until I get home to view the whole post. Fug the firewalls!
Thanks for the bus ride yesterday.

hi! I was just at target yesterday too. and I also saw those knit bags! I think I may have had the exact same thoughts as you did, except not about criminal neighbors. and I didn't take pictures. but they did make me think I could totally make something cuter than that. but not for $14.99 and it would take a lot longer than it would to get from the purse department to the cash register... but cuter! :)

I was in Knit Happens in Virginia over the weekend and I asked them if i could take pics for my blog & they were like "duh, of course you can!" But Target. No, no, no, no, no.

You are the best!! I love the picture taking in stores! I haven't been kicked out yet, but if someone gets upset, I will just speak to them in Spanish, as if I were a lost tourist and have no idea that industrial espionage is not okay...:-)
We have a brand new (added to the other 10) Tar-zhay here in my neighborhood, to replace the Tar-ghetto that used to be several blocks away. It's full of fun new things just waiting to be photographed while they wait for my paycheck to catch up with my shopping wish list! Thanks for the inspiration and the great stories!

OMG! It's totally the exact same purse in the Elisha Cuthbert photo! And I thought I was the only one out here into Go Fug Yourself. Thnx for keeping it real and for taking the Target hit for me. Mine is just too far...

YES! i saw these. It gives me hope that my knitted christmas gifts will be seen as , dare I say? "cool and trendy".

I avoid the purse section at Target because I have no willpower. Actually Target in general is a very dangerous place. Did you see the tabletop disco ball? That is why I cannot go to Target.

Nope, cannot see the purses at Target. I have to live vicariously through your blog yet again. Target has not made it to Alaska yet. Although, it is hot gossip at the mayor's office and with some commercialy real estate folks I know that Target is looking at three locations in Anchorage. YIPPY!

Ooooooh! Cute!
Except we don't have "Tar-jhay" in New Brunswick. Nuts!

I take my camera shopping too! I've never had anyone stop me from taking pictures but it does seem so sinful!

Cute bags. Hmm, perhaps this will inspire more peeps to pick up the needles and MAKE THEIR OWN. Why bother with mass-produced, albeit cute, stuff when you can have an original??

Love the bags! I wish there was a Target within a 1000 km of me.

Saw the quote in Interweave Knits. Least they could have done was sent you a free magazine and some kitty coupons. Just sayin'.

No Target here...I'm jealous!

I am not a knitter. I told myself I was going to try after I got a cute purple knitted string thingy from my friend Laci. I just never got around to it. I am also not big on knitted things. However, I do have some booties that I love to wear in the winter. Even though Texas is like 1,000,000 degrees year round. I like to pretend. Kind of like those Laguna Beach kids who have Christmas in tank tops and miniskirts. (get back on subject)....My point is that the white bag is very cute. I would purchase. AS a matter of fact....I am going to do that now.

WOW!! I had no idea I was so priveleged! People can make fun of Omaha all they want to, but we do have Targets (plural - and also Supertargets).....and to think we used to call the little, old neighborhood one "Tar-ghetto"

I think that once it shows up at Target, it's on its way out of fashion. I'm not a snob - most of my t-shirts and underwear comes from Target, but this has been my observation over the years.

Good for Elisha Cuthbert for carrying a Target bag! I don't really know who she is, but clearly, she must be someone Famous or at least Almost Famous.

And YAY for knitted bags! Maybe non-knitters won't look at us with pity anymore now that they're being sold commercially now.

Helen

OK - I was totally at that Target this weekend! We must have passed in the night...

Here is my Target formula.

Every 1/2 hour spent at Target = $50
Any fraction of 1/2 hour over the original 1/2 hour = an additional $50

So for instance 1 minute to 30 minutes = $50
31 -60 minutes = $100
61 - 90 minutes = $150 and so on.

Needless to say, I try to get in and out fairly quickly.

Oooh. And, attractively, they'd be easy to knit - no shaping!

Target is my personal mecca. People take pictures of mecca right? So I think you are in the clear--you are documenting a spirtual experience, not violating any copyright or trademarks :P I saw these purses last week, and while I'm happy to see the knit trend taking off, I found the actual purses a bit blah. I love knitting purses, but I want the purse to look like a purse--not "hey I got so bored I decided to bind off here." "No, really it wasn't going to be a pullover. No. Really. " :)

I saw them at the same Target...The one in Woodland Hills has a great inventory as well. Love the striped one - reminds me of a Harry Potter scarf

I don't even know who Elisha Cuthbert *is*, but yeah she darn well does shop at Target! It's the same bag.

Wow, I guess I'd better knit those bags I have planned so I can get some use out of them for the 15 minutes they'll be in style.

Loveyoupurl

I went away for four days, and look at everything I missed! :) I love that white cabled Target bag, even after checking out that fugly link...I bet I can recreate that bag! To the yarn store! I love cables!

I love Target ... but I don't know that you can't take pictures inside their stores! Really?

I was JUST there and I didn't see the bags! I wonder if you can order them online? Love the manicure, BTW!

Damn no target,no TVio thingy, no cable. We will have to make our own damn bags. Cause we're godam canadians and we live in snow houses and ride around in dog sleds. got go hunt some sheep so I can knit tonight. must. have. bag. thanks for that

Damn. And I just spent countless hours hand knitting an intarsia handbag that I *ingeniously* thought to line (so I don't have to sew in the ends!!!) for wee Monkey Gurl's drama coach.

When I could have gotten the same thing for only $14.99.

Damn, damn, damn.

Dagny - OMG a tabletop disco ball! I wanna visit your house!

The bags look great but given your mad knitting skillz, I'm sure you could make a bag that was super fabulous and the people at Target would be very jealous.

I did see those last time I was in Target, and thought maybe I could do purses as gifts this year!

And once when my brother and his film-student friends tried to film a project at Target they were accosted by security and told they couldn't bring the camera in.

Reminds me of the faux "hand-knit" socks I saw at Target last Christmas:
http://marysvirginwool.blogspot.com/2005/12/boss-scunci-skins.html

I've also noticed lately how hot crocheted items are getting -- they're on every page in the catalogs I receive, and I'm now seeing a lot of women wearing crocheted items in my day to day travels. Seems everything old is new again. Quick - contact Kitty Carlisle!

Nice mani, by the way!

You were at my Target! I did not see these knitted purses when I was there this morning...and here I was excited about the socks with skulls on them...I must go back!

Any plans for a knitted purse pattern? I got tired of scarves so I am knitting a blanket now...yeah...I am under the deluded idea that I will have it done by the time it actually gets cold enough to need such a thing.

My 7 year old son picked up that disco ball to show it to me the other day at Target! I had forgotten that....And I really want the maroon and white striped one, it is Texas A&M colors!!!!

All the ones here in Kabul closed and changed over to K-Marts....'cause after the war they weren't Targets anymore.....get it?? TARGETS any more....ok I need to leave this place....

My Target only had the ugly 70's version of leather purses last time I was there. MUST GO BACK TO TARGET to get that white knit purse!

Your nails look good!

You could, if mani's and time do not allow, go to the thrift store and recon a sweater turning the back or front of the sweater into the main part of the bag. Work shirker? Oh yes indeedy.

I heard about a white knit messenger bag from Spiegel last year. I like that the strap of the Spiegel one looks more substantial (less likely to stretch out?) but the ribbed top of the Target one gives the bag a nice, finished look (if it were foldeded over and hemmed).

Hm... a pattern may be forming...

Here's the Spiegel one:

http://www.purseblog.com/messenger-bags/spiegel-cable-knit-messenger-bag/

Speaking of knitted items working their way into consumer lives: did you see the new Ikea catalogue? There is a knitted bowl on the cover and many knitted items inside. I'm posting pictures on my blog soon. It's just another piece of evidence that knitters are ALWAYS ahead of the times.

White?! are you girls crazy? are there no dust bunnies, various forms of dirt and nefarious food stains in your sections of the world?? That would stay white in my insane planet about half a nano second. And it is only but a few mere weeks til Labor Day yall!

Regardless - cute! cheap! and that Spiegel one is only $ 24? who ever heard such a thing from Spiegel??!

Elisha C - actress that plays " Kim" on that Kiefer Sutherland show " 24" - see also: House of Wax, Girl Next Door. Cute thang, likely a size zero so we must try not to hate her too much.

Thanks for endangering your criminal-free life, and taking pictures at Target.

These pics give new hope for my gift planning.

Okay, I LOVE TARGET. That said, here's my soapbox. I've looked at those purses too and I'd like to know what poor person in some sweatshop knit those on a big industrial machines owned by Textile Guys in Suits. Sorry, but I think cheap means "made on the backs of some virtually enslaved Ethiopian man in the Marianas and a thriving sex trade - supported by the US of A. I'm by no means saying everything should be made in the USA by overpaid union workers, I'm saying the textile trade outside this country is atrocious. One example: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060701673.html

I'm no Puritan in my purchasing. But for some reason those purses set me off. Did I mention, I love Target? Honestly I do.

nice!!!! that means more knitted bag patterns!!!

Ooh! I think I can knit the red-and white one! That might be an easy project! :-)

Laurie you've got to see this cat!! He could be Roy's twin!!!

http://www.rollingdogranch.org/cats/winchester.html

What makes me laugh about that Elisa photo is the look on the guys face who is holding open the door! And I think I'm going to hop on the bandwagon and start making some purses for the holidays!

They could really care less if you take pictures. They are more likely to panic thinking you are some regional rep checking their displays so I'm afraid your hopes of joining the ranks of the neighborhood will have to be full-filled another way ;) Either that or they're all in the office watching you on the security camera with popcorn waiting to see what you'll photograph next :)

Here in the wilds of Maine, the nearest Target is at least an hour away. In context this is not a bad thing.

I had a run-in with the Target Picture Police a few years ago and I lived to tell the tale! My dad had never, ever been in a Target store. He had been very ill and knew that this was probably going to be his last Christmas so he told me to take him to Target so he could do his own Christmas shopping for the first time in 35 years. So it was a huge deal that he was inside a Target store...and I took pictures because that's how I roll. A very young clerk came running, yes, running up to me and told me that I couldn't take pictures inside the store. I tried to explain that I was photographing my dad not her merchandise and she just wouldn't listen to me. She was getting snottier and snottier so I started taking pictures of her. In the end I told her to go ahead and call the police and that I'd even wait for them to show up. I live in the hood of La Puente and I know the po-po have much bigger fish to fry than the local father-daughter felonious photographing racket that I was involved in. So, snap away and if anyone asks you what you are doing, say you are doing this for Jimmy Joe!

Cute bags but what's the deal with the pom poms???

Totally the same bag! *L*

Love that striped bag. I see what you mean. I have seeing a lot more knitted things in West Australia as well! Maybe it is a sign that we should all start knitting more!
Mia

Oh yeah Laurie, (totally off the subject) while I lay in bed last night I thought of a new name for a knitting group - Stitch n Ditch. Ditch those bad husbands and boyfriends and take up knitting instead - it is easy to fix mistakes, keeps you warm at night and never answers back. Do you think that stitch n ditch will catch on? Maybe you can be the inaugural member.
Mia

I learned a sad fact about Target. They get their ideas from us - the crafty independent guys and gals - and then they find a way to mass manufacture those designs on the cheap. I heard this from someone who had been on the inside, that they send around "scouts." So basically if you make it (to sell) then see a variation of it at Target, it is time to move on to your next big idea.

Knit bags, especially ones with cables, are definitely a hot accessory for Fall. I saw 3 of them featured in Lucky mag this month. Time to get over my fear of cables!

I saw knitted BOOTS at Kohl's -- maybe this is not new to anyone else but it was new to me.

I love me some Target, but, more importantly, I learned some new things today:

1) I have no frigging idea who Elisha Cuthbert is, or why I should like her, other than the fact that she obviously shops at Target. And apparently has no feet. And white...she has a white purse, and she has that cigarette hanging right by it--hope those are natural fibers, honey...

2) There is a purse blog?? A Purse blog! OMG! It's like heaven!!

3) Margart Nicole has clearly illustrated that people who have too much money are STUPID and will drop ridiculous ching for things that any normal, modestly skilled individual could make in one day. On crack. Bangle bag...

4) I really must dust off my cable needles. Lately (and I swear to G*d this is true), I have been using the end of a digital thermometer that was conveniently located on my night stand, while the cable needle was PUT AWAY and therefore not immediately accessible at the exact moment I needed it. Creature of convenience that I am, this arrangement made more sense than standing up and walking the two and one half feet to the needle-stash area. And I wonder why my ass is so big...

Thanks for the photos of the handbags! I went right to Target to view them! :) Love your blog!

those are too cute! I don't knint so note to self: buy cute bag at Target immediately.