Best yarn for gift knitting? Easy care and wears well?

[MissRubyandKen]

I recently finished knitting my first hat and my first mitten. I'm in love with how fast and easy they knit up and would like to gift some loved ones with gear for winter. I'm just not sure what yarn to use. It would need to be easy care, machine wash and machine dry. But I'd also love it would wear well, look good, and not pill up. Is there such a yarn?

[zech13_9_goforgold]

acrilic (sp?) washes and dries well, but it also can be very scratchy. I would choose an acrillic that's really soft. Read your labels before you buy and make sure it has everything you would want (washable, dryable). "Baby" lines of yarn usually wash well, so you might start looking there.

[Fyrestorm]

There are some really nice washable wools now.

http://knitting.about.com/od/knittin...rwash_wool.htm

You get the warmth of the wool with the washablilty of acrylic.

[slsurface]

I love Lion Brand's Wool-Ease. It's a wool/synthetic blend that washes and dries well. It comes in a variety of weights and colors and is very affordable. It's super soft and I can wear it even though I am allergic to wool. You can often get it on sale at JoAnn stores. At the price point, I can make a lot of great things for my family and for gifts.

http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/woolease.htm