I am not a fan of the magic loop either, so I use double pointed needles for socks, mittens, arms etc.
Fake fair isle, I’ve never seen a yarn like that! Does it really work when everyone has different tention etc? I like multicolour yarns together with a neutral yarn. Here is an example on how I use multicolour yarn:
But yeah, I feel ya, ”why did I buy all this yarn” 😅
Not using anything doubled, but that would certainly do the trick on trying to use up yarn 😂
I've just bought some sets of double pointed needles after this disastrous experiment with magic loop. Fake fairisle works pretty well, certainly at a distance (it doesn't bear up under closer inspection). Here's a similar sort of yarn and I think Crofter baby yarn is a similar idea. I love the mittens, that's a great way to use up yarn without ending up with something too grotesque.