Celebratory Knitting

This week I took two finals and handed in a 5-page paper and an 80-page paper. I'm officially done for the semester and done with my masters degree. Commencement is tomorrow but it will be a bit anticlimactic, since I still have to take more science classes to meet the medical school entrance requirements.

Needless to say, I celebrated with a few rows of sock. I present one finished Orchid Sock. The second is already on the needles.

This picture shows the lace pattern a bit better.

Even though this yarn was probably not the best choice to show off the lace pattern, I love the striping shown here.

Instead of knitting the lace pattern on the front and back, I knit the back the same way the Canal du Midi Socks were made, mostly to give the sock some stability.

I enjoyed knitting these socks so very much! As I've told some of you, I will be sad to finish the second sock!

My secret pal, whose last two packages been waiting for me after each of my last two organic chemistry, struck again. This time? Four hours after my organic chemistry final. If it weren't for the Australian postmarks, I would swear that my pal is in the class with me because her timing is freakish.

This time, she sent a Jo Sharp pattern book, three wonderfully soft balls of Alpaca Silk Georgette and some chocolate wrapped in the prettiest paper!

Although I had heard great things about Jo Sharp patterns, I'd never leafed through one of her pattern books. I must say, this pattern book is definitely my style. You all know how often I knit adult sweaters (have I even made one since I started blogging?) but I'm itching to cast on for several from this issue! Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures of the mitts and stockings that my pal suggested for the yarn. Maybe I'll have to knit them. Thank you so much, secret pal!!! You are totally amazing!

Finally, both Emily and Jen tagged me for that 7 Random Things About You meme that's flying around blogland. I'm conflicted about memes because I don't like when they replace real knit blog fodder (personally, I'd rather see what you knit than learn about your freakish talents or strange pet peeves, even if that means you only post once a month). Read on if you so choose. I'm not going to tag anyone else (much to the annoyance of Minty) but feel free to post your own you like.
1. I grew up on Cape Cod.
2. I begged to go to boarding school and loved every minute of it. Cape Cod was that awful (pretty, yes, but an intellectual wasteland nonetheless).
3. When I went to college at the University of Kansas, my grandmother referred to it as a study abroad period.
4. I live happily without both meat and television (until Beatrix, I lived without dairy and eggs too). I firmly believe television is the root of all evil. I won't judge you if you like it but if you can't carry a conversation without talking about TV shows, my eyes will glaze over and I'll politely excuse myself from the conversation.
5. I'm a New York Times Crossword junkie. Like Bill Clinton, only not nearly as good. Have you seen the Bush crossword? It's good. ;-)
6. I don't run on the Kansas River levy (the best running surface in town) because one time, a lone female runner who was really far out got stalked by a mountain lion at 5 a.m. Even though I would never run at 5 a.m., alone on the levy or that many miles out, I still fear mountain lions.
7. Whenever I ride out of town, I think about how nice it would be to live in the country. Then, I think about snakes and mountain lions. That's the end of that fantasy. I'm such a New Englander.