Not very exciting, but a nice, solid discovery

So, you have nieces/nephews you'd like to make Christmas presents for, but don't want to make delicate-wash things that might get shrunk?

Mmm, me too.

This is for one of our nephews, and mys sister knits and knows how to take proper care of wool, but I thought maybe (I hoped) synthetics have come a long way since the stretch bell bottom pants I used to wear as a child in the 70's.
Come to find out, they have. This is Encore Worsted and it feels pretty nice, not squeeky and yucky like I was worried about, and it knits up evenly and looks like wool and isn't shiny looking either. Makes a very nice fabric, here knit on 7's. I liked it so much I got some of the blue teal to make another Aran sweater. Supposedly for myself, but I tend to get all excited about these things and want to give them away, thinking "Oh, I'll tweak it by doing x,y, z next time and making it in burgundy . . . ."
I make photocopies of all patterns I use so I can take them anywhere with me, write all over them, and now that the young one has discovered astronomy, have diagrams of the solar system all over the back of them. "Ooooh, mom, can I draw on that?" as we ride somewhere to go hiking . . . .