Yarn Snob?!?

For many years now, I have always shopped for my yarn at craft stores like JoAnn's or Michael's.  Now don't get me wrong, I still feel that they are excellent sources for many, many crafting needs and yes including the occasional yarn.  My biggest yarn revelations have been that there are so many really yummy and nice yarns to be purchased at a Local Yarn Store (LYS) and it doesn't have to be very pricey!  I lived under the assumption that the yarns you could purchase at the craft stores was all there was to buy... so wrong!  Then, when I finally did see that there were yarns beyond the big stores I thought they were way too expensive.  This is only because I didn't talk to anyone in the LYS and I didn't take the time to feel the difference, and boy is there a difference!