Help me decide which yarn!

[Craw]

I keep going back and forth on this and I just can't choose a yarn. I haven't tried most of the yarns I have in mind so I've been over at Ravelry reading reviews on the different ones and there's always somebody who doesn't like a particular yarn so it's hard to decide. Webs yarn (www.yarn.com) is having this huge sale starting today so I think it's the right time to purchase a nice yarn for this hat and some scarf pattern yet to be determined. Perhaps this one. I *think* I've narrowed it down to these yarns:

* Plymouth Encore (reviews said easy care but pills too much)
* Plymouth Tweed (not very soft but no bad reviews, except maybe the tweed color is too much for that hat?)
* Plymouth Suri Merino (I have worked with this one before, it sheds but it's nice)
* Valley Yarns Amherst (pills)
* Valley Yarns Sugarloaf (splitty, stretchy)
* Elann Peruvian Highland Wool (a budget yarn w/knots and pilling)
* Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (everybody says this pills, is too scratchy, only for felting, but it's so affordable!)


Some of these yarns will be on sale, some not. Does anybody have a favorite of these yarns? Anybody worked with them before? I have plenty of time to make the project but if I want to grab a yarn on sale, I have to choose soon. I'll be making this for me for next season and I just want it to be a real nice present to myself. Any ideas or thoughts? TIA

[suzeeq]

What... are you making? Sweater, hat...?

Elann's HW is softer than WotA and is really about the same price. Plymouth Encore is nice, doesn't really pill that much and is washable. Don't know much about the others.

I don't think pilling is a much of a problem, that may be from the gauge (looser fabric pills more than tighter) or from washing frequently, and I think if you turn the item inside out it lessens pilling.

[alioop]

I haven't used some of those yarns but I really like Plymouth Suri merino. It is so soft and nice to knit. I don't like Encore because it seems too flimsy to me.

[Craw]

Sue: It's going to be a hat and scarf, links above.
I'm leaning toward the Valley Yarns Amherst at the moment - but Elann's is half the price - but the Suri Merino sure is nice. Ask me tomorrow and I will change my mind again! Wish I could get them all, then decide.

[Ingrid]

I've had good luck with Encore for things I want to be washable.

All soft yarn pills to a degree. It's just the nature of the beast. WOTA pills badly--I saw a sweater that Amy was knitting and it was pilling before it was done.

If you're looking at the Valley Yarns, Stockbridge is really nice. I made a sweater with it and it has only gotten a few pills at the forearms, and it's very soft! The yarn isn't all that expensive, either.