I love encore!! Its right in my price range too... I like Caron Simply Soft thats a brand you can normally find in Wal-mart or Joanns.. I haven't knitted with much Lion Brand right now I'm making a sweater out of the jiffy though...I tried knitting a sweater out of the homespun and gave up although with bigger needles I did not have trouble making a shawl out of it.. I have tons of red heart from 5yrs ago and I have used the baby red heart for afghans to be washed.. plus my grandmother only crochets with red heart and hers have held up really well.. only thing is after I found Encore its hard to go back to the red heart
