Adventures in yarn craft

I finished the first of my b/f's socks and thankfully, I got started on the next one right away. I don't want to fall into the '2nd sock syndrome' by putting off the second one and never get back to it. I just got the toe done and I'm hoping to get the majority of the foot part done before shutting down for the night. The biggest project that I have yet to do is still dogging me... the MAM afghan for his Mom. I know that each strip won't take me long... each one takes a couple hours at the most and I really want to get the socks done first so I can go all out on the afghan. And I still have one more handwarmer for my g/f.... after that, I can go back to making my own socks... again. Too, I'm wondering if my b/f's Dad wants a pair of socks.... I haven't made him anything, mostly because I don't know what would be useful to him. Too, I'm thinking about going back to Color Studio and getting more of that Gems Opal in that beautiful lavender colo...

I will never consider myself a 'yarn snob' at all but I am discovering how nice natural fibers are, even in blends. I'm making my b/f a pair of socks from 100% merino wool and I really like how it's working up. They're just plain socks, not cables, no fancy stitch patterns but the way it looks is so... nice (although I misfigured the length of the foot and have to rip out the heel and redo it...). I just can't understand why some people automatically stick their noses up at all synthetic yarns. To me, that's a blessing to have yarn that I can use that can be washed and dried in a machine. Yeah, I know... they make super wash wools but still, synthetics have their place. Although I was sorely tempted to get some non super wash wool when I was at the yarn store, I reasoned that I'd probably forget to hand wash them and end up ruining socks from yarn that was over $20 a hank... not a good thing. So, I'll stick with yarn that can be washed in a machine.....

I'm officially addicted to toe up socks. I'm so pleased with the pair that I made that I have plans for more. In fact, in a round about way, my b/f asked me for socks for Christmas (through a mutual friend and she told me, guessing that he wanted them from me since I knit....). This takes me to my trip to the yarn store. I've never been to this particular one. I'm not good when it comes to going someplace for the first time so I was on the anxious side but I made it. It was Rivers Color Studio and I had a really positive experience there. Of course, I went looking for nice, reasonably priced sock yarn. I can't say that the prices were great (better on line) but too, the ladies that work there were friendly and helpful. I had hoped to find Wildfoote sock yarn but they had a variety of other sock yarns. I ended up getting Opal in white for the b/f since he had said that he would only wear white socks and some 'One Your Toes' sock yarn (DK weight). I've n...