Setting 'em up...

...knocking 'em down.

That was my dad's line. He used to say that a lot (well, before he retired) as it concerned work stuff - you make your list, you pick your tasks in order, you work 'til you're done.

This morning, I did the catch-up grading (including reading and grading a long paper a student had to do to fulfill an Honors Contract that I forgot I had agreed to until she gave me the paper yesterday). And I finished my syllabi, including picking the first two Directed Readings readings. (Sometime I need to talk about how Directed Readings is having to change because....well, because someone somewhere said so. Sometimes academia is a bit like the military - you get directions, they might not make total sense to you, but it doesn't necessarily pay to question them. And of course, sometimes the directions change after you've fulfilled them. No, I was never in the military but I've had my share of friends and relatives who were, so I know some of the unrepeatable acronyms and the old saying about how if it moves, you salute it, and if it doesn't, you paint it....)

And I wrote up the minutes from the AAUW meeting of a couple weeks back, and re-did the Yearbook for this fall (including, sadly, deleting the contact information of a member who died, and of a couple who moved away).

And I've taken one pass through the manuscript. It's in PRETTY good shape but I see a few tweaks to do, also I have to delete references to the map I never got around to making.

I have left to finish the ms. and do the soil stuff. I'm bailing on the bees for today; they will keep and I'll have some downtime next week I can work on them.

I wonder if part of my doldrum feeling was all that stuff hanging over my head. I know when I have some kind of slightly-onerous task hanging over me (or even a task that really isn't onerous, but which I have to overcome inertia to start), I find it hard to enjoy "fun" things until I've completed that task. I suppose that goes back to the old "You can't play outside until you finish your homework" rule of my childhood. (Never mind that some days that meant it was dark before I was done, so I didn't get outside, and never mind that the meme now is to toss the kids outside to run around for an hour so they're "sure" to stave off obesity....)

Anyway.

I had, um, ordered more yarn (yes, never mind that I have dozens of projects I am not finishing). I had pulled out my copy of "Knit Two Together" the other night and flipped through it.

You know, every time I see a couple things in there - the gym slip dress and the witches' britches, I kind of wishes I was slimmer so I could fit into them. Well, the gym slip dress, you also have to be slim and toned because a clingy knit dress shows stuff off....but

And I looked at the "britches" again. The largest size has a waist size of 32". Now, my waist is a bit bigger than that now. (How much, I may be in denial about. I don't think it's MUCH but then I haven't measured in a while.... I'm guessing somewhere between 34 and 36* based on how my trousers fit. and what size I am wearing...Depending on the cut, I wear a 16 or a 14, but in the 16s, the waist gaps a bit - usually if I need a 16 it's for the rise, or just to be a bit more roomy) but I'm thinking "maybe they'll stretch" (I don't have enormous hips in proportion, and frankly, I have a rather flat butt, thanks to all the years on the cross-country ski exerciser). So, I don't know.

Anyway, I decided to give them a try. No, I am not buying the Zara the originals were made of - that would run upwards of $100 and I can't see doing that. But KnitPicks was having a sale on a dk merino ("Swish") and so....I ordered enough in pink for the main body of the things, and black for the lace.

It came today. The colors make me smile because the pink is almost the exact pink of some of the "racy" Victorian lingerie I've seen (and that pink and black are sometimes "racy" lingerie colors, or at least they used to be) and I like the idea of what amount to granny pants being done in colors that at some point in time were "racy" (a modification of the pattern can be seen on Kat Coyle's blog). No, I won't probably wear them under dresses unless another Ice Age starts up here, but I was thinking they might be nice as either wintertime pajama bottoms or as lounging-around-the-house wear. (And anyway - a certain percentage of the stuff some of us knit, we don't knit so much because "This is super practical and I will wear it all the time" but because "This seems like a fun pattern or I am attracted to the image of the item")

I will have to play around and see if I can keep trying them on while I make them. (I think you make the legs first, then join them to do the waist). I might reduce the amount of shaping at the waist if I need the waist to be bigger. But then again: knitting stretches, and if my guess of a 34" waist isn't too far off, they should fit fine.

And anyway, if they come out really too small when I get them done, well, my sister in law is about a size or size and a half smaller than I am....maybe she would wear them.

I MIGHT consider taking this along as a knitting-on-break project, I don't know. 



(*And I'm glad I don't live in Japan, because that would earn me the dreaded label of  "metabo" and carry with it, apparently, "reeducation" until I got the waist size down. Ugh. I hope that never happens here. Shaming people into weight loss is a bad plan, IMHO)