Hmmmmmm, great socks.

I certainly love ’em. Love the way they hug my feet, warm my toes and soften my footfalls. Love how they feel on a chilly winter night, curled up on the couch with my girlfriend.

Call it a comfy foot fetish, if you want.

I remember my first pair of SmartWools given to me years ago by a friend who worked for the company.

That pair of socks got plenty of use ” snowboarding, hiking, late-night movie watching ” as did the other pairs of SmartWools I bought or received as gifts over the years.

Now I’ve got a new socks fetish. And again, it’s because of this good friend.

The story as I understand it: Timberland purchased SmartWool in 2005, which led to an exodus of longtime SmartWool employees who were disenchanted about working for a big conglomerate. Among those leaving were SmartWool founders Peter and Patty Duke.

This small tribe set out on their own to start point6, a direct-to-consumer sock company that cuts out the middle man and exists to “Spread the Wool.”

This friend of mine is the lead scout for the start-up, which means he gets to drive around in a pimped-out van visiting gatherings of all types ” much like Crocs has done for years ” and peddling quality merino wool socks at friendly prices.

The idea is that once consumers try the socks, they’ll never want to go to a store to pay full price for a pair of SmartWools again. They’ll simply go to the point6 website to get their socks without the 30 percent markup.

Or, as the point6 website says, “Once you’ve experienced point6, your socks life will never be the same again.”

I couldn’t agree more. The socks that my friend gave me were gratis, so I could spread the wool myself.

For this review, however, I did a side-by-side price comparison between the point6 website and SmartWool’s home site and found that my friend wasn’t joking.

The medium crew hiking socks he gave me cost $12.56 on the point6 site, whereas the same model of SmartWool socks on the company’s site runs $16.95.

That’s four bucks right there ” enough for a movie rental on those cold, winter nights when you feel like curling up on the couch.

For more information on point6, check out the website at http://www.point6.com.