I have been loyal to the SmartWool brand for years- they keep my legs and feet so warm in the winter. However, in recent times, they have changed the way they weave their socks such that the wool fibers start to "pill" and come off on the interior of the sock's foot bed. So whenever you go to take the sock off, some of the wool comes off attached to your foot. Within 3 months, enough wool had come off the bottom of the footbed, that three holes appeared. Although the socks are gorgeous, comfortable, don't itch, and keep me warm, they didn't even last the season. This has been the case with all the SmartWool PhD socks I've bought over the last 2 years. Too bad.