WoolWeenies Club

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Since Triskell reported on her Ibex arrival today, I will report on mine! I too was very pleased with the things I got today.

I got the mulberry ribbie too, on the same day as you!
I like to layer them though, or sometimes wear one as a pajama top, so I got one medium and one large. (we get a lot colder here, so layering is good). I do this with my 2 Larkspur blue ribbies and it's a good technique for me. The price was fabulous for such a heavy weight base layer, and I like the mulberry color. Purples don't really do it for me, but this is more like black-raspberry sherbet. What really looks gorgeous now is layering a larkspur and a mulberry ribbie together- a beautiful color combination when you see the neck peeking out and fold the cuffs up on the outer one.

The other thing I got was the Carrie Hoody on sale in green. I had tried it on in a store previously. The green is like a really rich sparkling deep emerald green- same color as mounds of emerald moss in a forest. Doesn't look like the same "warm green" of the new shaks at all.
It fits me nicely and is so snuggly. It's pure merino but has a sort of rough terrycloth outer surface in a way. But soft. Lighter than my loden wool jacket for sure, but heavier than the shaks. It's not so dense as loden so it will breathe well and I can wear it while fitness walking I think. The Large fits me beautifully, sleek but with room for a couple of layers underneath.

Very pleased with these bargains.

Hey Triskellion, let's both wear our mulberry ribbies tomorrow, ok? We can be Mulberry Ribbie Sisters for a day!

P.S. Mimi- the mulberry color is a bit darker in reality than what my computer screen shows...it's like a medium dark raspberry. I have no idea what their "magenta" color looks like- can't imagine it is like that weird pale lavender-pink that the photo shows. You might call them to ask which is darker and more intense.
Size: I'm 145 lbs, 36A, 5'5"...the medium ribbie fits me well, but is quite form fitted- good for wearing under stuff. The Large ribbie fits more relaxed and looks good when wearing it alone over pants. If you are smaller than me in 2 out of the 3 ways above, then get the medium I'd say. If you like your tops loose, then get a large. These ribbies seem to run just a bit smaller than usual.

[Triskeliongirl]

Mimi, I would say it depends on how you want it to fit. The small is snug on me, but I like it that way to tuck into pants and wear under a fitted wool suit. If you aren't sure, you could order both sizes and send one back, I've been doing a lot of that lately. You can see how I look since I lost weight here:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showp...5&postcount=30

In the after pic I am wearing shebeest tights and top in small. I am between a small and medium depending on the item. Sometimes I size up to M for length, but the small ribbie has good length both overall and in the arms.

Sure Lisa, we can be Mulberry Ribbie sisters tomorrow !!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow, look at all that weight you lost!- You look fabulous!! You must feel so good now! No wonder you have to buy new clothes!
Very amazing and impressive.

Ok, I will wear my mulberry ribbie tomorrow and think of you. Maybe I'll take a picture!

[Natasha]

Do the Carrie hoodies have flat-lock seams? Do you find it itchy? How is the sizing? Has anyone gotten to see the charcoal color?
Thanks.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Do the Carrie hoodies have flat-lock seams? Do you find it itchy? How is the sizing? Has anyone gotten to see the charcoal color?
Thanks.

Yes, flat-lock seams everywhere. Very soft on the inside, kind of nubbly-like on the outside, but not itchy....but you wouldn't be wearing it over bare skin anyway- it's more like a hooded jacket, but not heavy. It seems a bit too jacket-like to wear like a sweatshirt around the house. I'm going to wear mine while fitness walking- my heavy wool jackets are too warm when exercising. The Carrie would breathe and it moves and stretches with you.
I like the material as a light sweater/jacket.
Yes, I tried on the charcoal color- very nice! The charcoal is quite slimming visually and it's what I was going to get originally, but in the end I couldn't resist the green color even though the charcoal made me look thinner! Like Sandra, I'm a sucker for green. I tried the oatmeal one on too, but the light color made me look heavy (I have large hips)- if you are thin I imagine it would look great.
It has 4 generous pockets- 2 outside and two inside.
The hood is not skintight, but it fits pretty close to the head, so it's useful, and I think it could fit under a helmet.
Sizing- see my measurements in the previous post. The Large Carrie fits me perfectly over 2 base layers and a shak. I think I could fit the medium if I only wore a base layer under it. The XL was just too big and loose on me in the store.

[GLC1968]

Yes, flat-lock seams everywhere. Very soft on the inside, kind of nubbly-like on the outside, but not itchy....but you wouldn't be wearing it over bare skin anyway- it's more like a hooded jacket, but not heavy.
The hood is not skintight, but it fits pretty close to the head, so it's useful, and I think it could fit under a helmet.
Sizing- see my measurements in the previous post. The Large Carrie fits me perfectly over 2 base layers and a shak. I think I could fit the medium if I only wore a base layer under it.

I have to ditto Lisa on the above. I have this in a medium and it leaves plenty of layering room underneath. (I'm 5'4" and normally wear a 6 on top) The hood does fit under a helmet (I tried it, though I haven't worn it on the bike that way yet) and I do wear mine around the house as a sweatshirt type top. Mine's the thistle heather with the charcoal stripes. it's one of my favorite Ibex items, yet!

[Triskeliongirl]

Wow, look at all that weight you lost!- You look fabulous!! You must feel so good now! No wonder you have to buy new clothes!
Very amazing and impressive.

Ok, I will wear my mulberry ribbie tomorrow and think of you. Maybe I'll take a picture!

Thanks for noticing Lisa! Yeh, so maybe now you understand why I have been so shopping happy this year. I have had to entirely replace my wardrobe. On top of that, l lost all my 'insulation' which is why I appear to have no clue to how to dress for winter! My weight loss is sort of a long story, I found out that I am a type 1.5 diabetic which means I don't make enough insulin. To normalize my blood sugars I had to go on a high protein low carbohydrate diet, but the net result is that by restoring hormonal balance it normalized my body weight too!

[mimitabby]

I tried to buy the ribby but it didn't give me the free shipping that the post card they sent me promised. So i will call tomorrow if i'm still in the mood. I would have liked to have bought the green but it's only in large. the beige and the blue are not to be considered. but the berry is nice

[KnottedYet]

As to needing a fresh base layer daily...we are all different, but I would like to mention something that I discovered several years ago and like very much:
http://www.luckyvitamin.com/086449300093.html
This "crystal" spray deodorant is really wonderful. It has no odor at all, and seems like plain water. What it actually is is a solution of mineral salts in water. It does NOT have aluminum salts, but has other mineral salts like perhaps magnesium salts, etc that are harmless. How it works is that it creates a PH environment on your skin that the underarm bacteria cannot thrive in. Odor happens when those bacteria multiply over the day. The mineral salts create a pH that the bacteria have a hard time breeding in. So in a way this deodorant works the very same way as the wool does- creating an underarm environment where bacteria will not thrive and multiply much.
I really like this stuff and it is much more natural than most commercial deodorants. It leaves no residue and does not have any perfumes at all.
It also comes in a crystal salt "rock" form that you wet and glide on, but I like the little pump spray myself. (non-aerosol of course, so doesn't hurt the environment)

All aluminum compounds (including alum, which is in the Crystal products) make me itch like a crazed flea-ridden beast. And I'm a major stinky-sweat monster. My friend's mom taught me a trick that works well and doesn't make me itch. (I think she did it out of self preservation!) Use a regular ol' stick deodorant, dip it in baking soda, and then put it on. The little bit of baking soda does the same thing as Crystal deodorant, with out the itchy alum. Awesome! (cuz I'm really really not fun when I'm stinky)

I've accidentally smeared the deodorant/baking soda mix on just about every wool shirt I own, and it seems to come out just fine in the wash.

Edit: the Crystal I tried was the solid alum chunk. I don't know if the alum in water spray that Lisa uses would be less itchy. I haven't tried the spray.

[mimitabby]

and Trisk, you look wonderful, cute even!! congrats on losing all that weight!

[KnottedYet]

Trisk, I just looked at your pics! Wow, you look great! Congratulations, and yes, you get all new woolie clothes for a job well done!

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks guys.......... I thought everyone knew already from the other thread, but I guess everyone doesn't read everything. Yeh, its been *very expensive* to replace my wardrobe. But what feels good is that I know I am not going to gain the weight back cuz this time I really did finally fix the underlying problem. When I talk about my weight normalizing I really mean it quite literally. Did I diet and exercise? Sure, but I have always dieted and exercised, and still gained weight cuz my hormones were out of balance. As long as I restrict carbs, my apetite and bodies needs mesh, so as long as I listen to my body, and exercise just moderate restraint, the weight came off and is staying off pretty easily.

And, what would I do without wool?? All I can say is that it looks a heck of a lot better than my old insulating material!!!

The hard part now will be deciding which of the pieces that are still to come get to stay and which have to go back. But at least I am getting a handle on what I like with the pieces I've got already. Its so amazing to me how soft the Kate is, the 17.5 micron wool really does feel amazing on my skin, so I am really glad I snagged those pieces. The ribbie is definitely not as smooth, but oh so pretty and oh so warm.... It will be interesting to see how the Icebreaker and LLbean compare.

[Natasha]

Was there a free shipping code on the Ibex postcard? I got a card, but I must have missed the free shipping code.

[sandra]

Trisk, GREAT JOB! Way to go girl.

ALERT: half zip shak jersey on sale for $85. Is it worth it? or would it be better to spring for the full zip. Anyone seen the warm green? I'm a sucker for a pretty shade of green.

[mimitabby]

There isn't really a code on this card, you go to a "personalized website"
mine is mimitboothby.ibexwool.com and all it is is a gateway to a short survey.

i did it and it did not give me the discount. I called and the lady said she'd "check" to see if they received my survey.. what the heck did they leave the "website" up if they were done with the promotion? and how come it didn't tell me when it expired????

so i'm still waiting for her to check..