Knitting Alchemy asked what the pretty first yarn was, and I realized that I hadn't named any of the other yarns.  

The first yarn is Red Heart sock yarn. I picked this up in Saskatoon when I was on my way to St. Pete's for Stitches Saskatachewan last year.  Besides being a cheerful knit, it is really a nice yarn.  If you have knit socks for any time at all, you know there are sock yarns that appeal more than others.  You know there are just certain yarns that your hands instinctively understand and want to play more with.

I admit that Paton's Kroy has always been one of these yarns for me though with the now much shorter yardage, maybe not so much.  Good thing I have a fair bit in the sock stash (So named because it is a separate stash from the other yarn and is never included when I think of stash. Convenient, yes?)

Then comes my favourite Cotton Fun, a Meillenweit cotton and wool with a little nylon, but just really really nice to wear.  Then comes a whole slew of other commercial sock yarn.  Austermann Step, DGB Confetti, On line, Lanna Grosso and the  list could go on and on.

Then there are the fancies, the specials, tha hand dyed.  There are the Socks That Rocks (which is almost a stash in itself.  Its a hard thing when you have relatively easy access).  There is the Colinette Jitterbug. Did I ever mention my fling with the Velvet Damson? Did I ever really talk about how the brilliant rich colours affect me when a bag comes from the distributor and you get the full power of vibrant, strong, rock solid, right there in front of you? (Makes me weak in the knees.)  There is Indie Dyer.  There is Cherry Tree Hill.

I mean, who knew that by mixing two fibres (usually), wool and nylon, you could get such variation?   Who other than sock knitters will ever find out?  There is part of me that has an urge to shout it out to the world...

Oh wait a second.  That is what I do.

So where does this nice little Red Heart yarn sit on my list of yarns?  Right there besides Kroy.  Kroy may in fact have to watch out.  This is strong competition.  

and the other yarns in the photos are, in order, Arequippa (alpaca wool and nylon), Australian Merino (pure new wool), And Diamond Footloose (wool and nylon)