WoolWeenies Club

[Triskeliongirl]

Catriona, thanks for confirming my ibex bias.......... Other than socks, the midweight zip-T is my first clothing purchase from smartwool. It seems sturdy, but the microweight bottoms made me uneasy and I've read a lot of reports of them tearing, but not of the woolies. I hope the top holds up. the color (orchid heather) looks wonderful over my ibex raspberry woolie........... and under a grey or black suit..............

Hopefully I'll be thrilled with the XS woolies that are due to arrive tomorrow! Zappos had them on sale, plus a 20% off coupon, plus free overnight shipping w free returns, so I'll know soon enough. I have one icebreaker thin base t that is scratchy, and I found their sizing terribly inconsistent, I've ordered small tops that run like mediums and small tops that run like XS, so most of what I've ordered from them has gone back. I also don't find their stuff works as well as 'scientist sheek', looks that I can either give a research seminar in or play in, with subtle modifications...... A little too on the sport only size, with the finger thingies and sport stripes.

I can't wait for wed, the day my children arrive home from college and the rest of my packages come! That way my daughter and I can try on all the goodies in the assorted sizes together. She is one size up from me, so maybe I won't be sending back that much at all if things work out right. I did get good deals on everything I ordered, loads of coupons, etc.

I think I am most excited about the ibex alpstar pant. Maybe it will make an Ibex 'suit' when paired with a shak......at least for a scientist rather than a business person!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Trisk,
You will find that the Smartwool mid-weight zip top is very sturdy and warm and soft. I too have had occasional tiny holes pop up with the microweight SW stuff (easily sewn but annoying nonetheless), but the mid-weight is very durable- I've worn and washed mine dozens of times and no problem.

Incidentally, I've been wearing my SheBeest WindPro tight so much lately in the 20'sF, that I just ordered a second pair so I can rotate them while laundering. They are the warmest solo-wearing tight I have, on days that I don't want to layer 2 tights together.

[Triskeliongirl]

OOh thanks lisa that is so good to know... You are such a great font of information! In fact, my small windpro tight also fits a tad loose, and while I was tempted to send it back for an XS, I figured that was Ok if I wanted to layer it over a shebeest tech tight for cold weather cycling, but I guess I could also layer it over the XS woolies if they fit right.

So, do you go out in just the woolies/windpro tight for a hike, or do you put that under a pant or goretex shell? I thought I could put it under a goretex shell to ski.

I am now realizing that all that stuff I thought was just a tiny bit big is great for layering stuff underneath!

[Cataboo]

*sigh* I wish you hadn't mentioned an ibex sale.

I've had 2 midweight crews and 2 midweight smartwool tights develop the random holes. Probably about 6 of the lightweight shirts have developed holes, and a bunch of the socks. I do throw them in the washer, but I don't put them in the dryer.

I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or what - because some pieces I can use over & over without developing holes, and others will just develop holes almost instantly. I haven't seen it in any of their heavier weight stuff, but usually those are sweaters or zip ups that I don't wash often.

Scientist Chic - do we have to dress up anymore? Some of the icebreaker works well for it... Look at the nomad hoody (okay, so I think it might have thumbloops), the nature line is really nice, and then the jetter jacket. Some of the sport 320 stuff that's just solid colors can also be dress up. thumbloops aren't noticable unless you put your thumbs in them.

Trying on ibex with your daughter sounds like it would be a blast. I can't say that I have gotten my mother interested in wool at all, however a couple of years ago the Anne Taylor loft outlet near my mother's would quite often have sweaters or sleeveless vests in cashmere or wool for $5 each in the summer... and my mother & I used to have quite a lot of fun buying that up.

[Triskeliongirl]

By scientist chic, I mean that there are situations where I need to look professional, but with an edge, that is not like a business person. So for that I have 2 wool suits, one black and one grey. For each suit I bought 2 pairs of pants and one jacket (all from ann taylor loft at 70% off). I can then either pair the pants with a black or purple heather full zip shak, or with a suit jacket. If I wear the suit jackets, I like to dress them down with a zip T. Then to dress down further as I move from work to play, I pair the shaks with jeans, etc. Even this trip to europe involves both family stuff and professional visits with talks at universities in seville, madrid and lausanne. I won't bother to bring the suit jackets, but the dress pants and shaks will be perfect to give seminars in. I only wear the suit jackets when I have to go to DC to serve on government panels, or to give a very formal talk at a very large meeting.

Oh, my daughter just called. She is soooo freezing in boston right now. She can't wait to come home and pick up her wool! She also just lost a lot of weight and is getting cold more easily and doesn't have much that fits her. So, I have a feeling I am not going to be sending much back at all.............

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

So, do you go out in just the woolies/windpro tight for a hike, or do you put that under a pant or goretex shell? I thought I could put it under a goretex shell to ski.

I don't ski, but I do snowshoe and I fitness-walk for miles in the cold and snow.
I have a pair of rain pants (thin but waterproof) that I put on one time snowshoeing in heavy wet snow conditions, but they were pretty hot over my wool tights, didn't breathe, not sure if I'd choose them in any but the worst conditions or going out in a blizzard or a long cold woodland hike.
My layering depends totally on the weather conditions which of course vary tremendously, so it's hard to tell you what I do "in general"...i've used dozens of different layering combinations in all kinds of weather. I keep learning new tricks every day, or abandoning old ones.
Generally, one warm pair of warm tights are enough down to 40F, then between 40 and 30F maybe just the WindpPro tights OR a combo of 2 other tights (like maybe my underArmor tights and my Ibex wool tights over those for instance). Below 35F I'll pair two of my heavier tights, or the Craft Storm tights. Below 25 I'll put my underarmor tights under my Storm tights or under my WindPro tights.
The SheBeest Tech tights are fairly warm, so when I need a chamois for a long cold ride I'll wear those and maybe pull some Ibex wool tights over them.

Catriona- about all those holes...it seems like an awful lot of holes you are getting! You and i have many of the exact same items but you are getting way more holes than I am. Are you using regular detergent? Regular agitation cycle in the wash?
I use only Woolite (granted not everyone thinks Woolite is great but it works well for me) and I set the washer to the GENTLE cycle and WARM/COLD temp. I do this for ALL my laundry.
Somewhere I once read that regular laundry detergent slowly eats away at the delicate merino fibers and weakens them. Just a possibility to consider.

[Triskeliongirl]

Hey Catriona, I just noticed in another thread you are a scientist too, so you should know what I mean. I just got back from SFN in DC, and while there the most common thing was a wool blazer with casual slacks, that's still too much of a uniform for my taste, so I prefer the dress pants with the casual shak sweater on top. It varies with the meeting though. I had to give a talk at the japanese neurosci society meeting this summer, and everyone but me was in a business suit, both male and female. I wore an ann taylor dress with a nice sweater jacket so it was fine, but again, its my retaliation against a uniform. I looked professional, but had my own personal style.

[Cataboo]

Hey Catriona, I just noticed in another thread you are a scientist too, so you should know what I mean. I just got back from SFN in DC, and while there the most common thing was a wool blazer with casual slacks, that's still too much of a uniform for my taste, so I prefer the dress pants with the casual shak sweater on top. It varies with the meeting though. I had to give a talk at the japanese neurosci society meeting this summer, and everyone but me was in a business suit, both male and female. I wore an ann taylor dress with a nice sweater jacket so it was fine, but again, its my retaliation against a uniform. I looked professional, but had my own personal style.

My Mom had a friend once that worked in a Kasper outlet - so I have a gazillion Kaspar suits... I tend to just pack one blazer with me and at least wear that if I'm giving a talk or something like that. I really like the keystone symposias (not only because I get to ski), so most of my meetings lately are at ski resorts... and there's usually a lot of people walking around in their ski gear. I tend to just put the blazer on over a wool sweater or shirt when necessary, and pants are usually the alpstars or the REI mistral pants (another softshell pant). However, quite a few don't even bother with that and just give their presentations in their ski clothing.

[Triskeliongirl]

Yeh, that works at a ski meeting. Its just when you go to a meeting in a more formal location like a big city, that I like to have something a little dressier. We went to a cool meeting on the costa brava, where we cycled every afternoon in the foothills of the pyrenes, and you better believe we showed up for the morning session in cycling clothes to be ready to ride after lunch. In fact, one of the european teams was holding a training camp at the very same hotel, so we got to get ideas for routes from them.

But that is one of the cool things about science, there aren't a lot of rules about dress. Interestingly, we were visiting older colleagues in cambridge recently, and they told us they really hold it against a scientist that isn't dressed 'professionally' (not at a ski meeting or gordon conference where casual dress is de riguer) but at a big city meeting or seminar visit. So, as I've gotten older, I've learned that to some people its a sign of disrespect if they invite you to give a seminar and you don't dress 'professionally.' So, I started dressing better for these events, but still like to exert my personal style which means often means a zipped shak rather than a blazer. The other time I realized clothes matter is when trying to get money, especially from certain agencies that expect a more businesslike look. That is when I wear my suits. But sometimes I wear them cuz they look sharp, especially since I lost weight and bought some nicely tailored ones.

[jobob]

I just had to approve 3 abstracts for a Keystone meeting.

Oh yeah, I like wool too.