Yo La Tejo

Bullseye.

Calling all Austinites! Attention! The Target down south on 290 is a veritable treasure trove. An embarrassment of riches, shall we say. It is at least bigger by 1/3 than the Target off I35, near 54th Street. You know what that means, kids? More clearance items!

I used to have a Babar poster when I was a kid of about 22, that had Babar sitting in a big wing chair, in front of a photographer bent over one of those cameras on a tripod with a curtain over his head. The poster said something like, "Well-satisfied with his purchases, and feeling very elegant indeed, Babar now goes to have his picture taken." I loved that poster, because I knew exactly that feeling of having a shopping trip go excellently well, and feeling like a million bucks (without having spent anywhere near that much).

Target made me feel that way the other day! See all those lovely red clearance tags? Look at all the loot I got (plus a sale book from Bookpeople):



A lantern candle for my porch for 2.50! Some red workout pants that are sooooo soft for 7.99! And not one, but TWO pairs of Isaac Mizrahi sandals! One pair in black, and the other in white:



For 4.98 apiece, why not bring both pairs home? Personally, I normally stay away from white shoes (they make me think of first communion), but sometimes, nothing but a pair of white shoes will do. And for five buckaroos, how can you go wrong?

I have to say, kids, I was dumbstruck over the past couple of days at the inroads that knitting and crocheting has made into fashion. Or is it vice versa? Because, have you seen these?



Crocheted shrugs, made of cotton, for about $15.00 at Target. Does anyone else's heart plunge into despair at seeing this kind of thing? I know, I know, I know! That there's no comparison between these, and a handmade item, that you made with your own hands, in the color that you want, in the yarn that incited spasms of pleasure as it passed through your fingers. These Target shrugs were made of a rough cotton that was about as soft as, say, a doormat bought from Dollar Daze.

And yet. Here they were, done. And it fit perfectly. No frogging to get the fit or the armlength right. No messing with gauge. In about six colors, one for every mood.

In case you were wondering, of course I didn't get one. I have my lovely drop stitch shrug, that I am making slow but sure progress on. Not enough to take a new picture of! But it's a' coming along.

Just a reminder of how lucky I am that I don't have to do this knitting thing for a living. If that were the case, I'd pretty much be dining exclusively on tuna casserole.

You would not believe the pair of knitted boots that I saw today at Nordstrom. Alack! I didn't have my camera with me, so you'll have to take my word for it. They looked like a pair of Ugg boots (a boot for which I cannot think of a better-suited name), except they were knitted! With a rubber sole attached. Seriously. I think I have now seen the apotheosis of this knitted fashion trend.

In other news, I managed to win a new convert to the Church of Yarn! Here is my friend Lena, happily showing off her first few rows! Yay, Lena!



Here's Jill, working on finishing her awesome purse before it goes into the washer to be felted:



In between bites of pear with blue cheese and fig spread, and swigs of red wine, and Sex and the City reruns, yes, we did manage to get a few stitches in.

posted by Olga @ 8:01 PM