Before I start preaching about frivolous spending…

I just frivolously spent $13 on Tulip Sock fixin's.

As to why…well…see, this is hard. It really does go against my usual rules on flippant purchases. It was over $5, and it was not something that could be eaten, so it should have gone through a slightly more rigorous decision process and been tossed out on the basis that I already have enough sock yarn to keep my needles busy for about sixteen years. And, furthermore, I have enough other yarn to be making sweaters and baby blankets and whatnot for a further eighteen years. I am rapidly approaching SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) in the yarn department.

The only defense I have, the only reason I can give for my buying the yarn and pattern for these rather garish examples of the knitting trade is…they made me laugh.

Hard.

I mean it. I saw those socks in an email from KnitPicks last night and I laughed so hard I shot zinfandel right out my nose. I was so cheered and amused by these socks that it didn't even bother me that I was wiping zinfandel off my laptop screen.

They embody the whimsy of Spring, to me. They say, "Yes, that's right! We're garish, and PROUD OF IT! We're bright and we're bold and we're cheerful and if you don't like it, we really don't care! Because we're socks! Really, really, REALLY Spring-y socks!"

So I bought the yarn, and I fully intend to make – and wear! – them.

In public.

Because they made me laugh.

Really, really hard.