WoolWeenies Club

[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.

[Cataboo]

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.

I have some really nice wool sweaters from icelandic design. I often wear those when I'm "dressing up"

http://www.rei.com/outlet/search?vca...x=0&button.y=0

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/sea...criptions=True


I'm going to a keystone in January, I'm all excited. Skiing sucks here.

[Triskeliongirl]

Nice, yeh I much prefer a nice sweater to a blazer. BTW, I did just order a lot of stuff from backcountry with the 20% coupon code. Its not advertised at the site anymore but it does still work. PM me if you need it. They have a ton of ibex, some on sale plus the 20% off coupon and free shipping..........

My XS woolies arrived today..........mmmmmmmmmmmmm.............soft, now I get why Lisa wears them as PJs. In fact, I haven't taken them off yet. I am sitting here in my woolie bottom and SM zip T top, so cozy. That will also work great on our trip since I can have my baselayers double as sleepwear.

They are much more comfy and robust feeling than the smart wool bottoms, but still light feeling. I still am so surprised they fit even under my slim cut pants, I had this idea I'd need to wear loose pants with them. I think that is why I didn't buy any last year.

Oh, I so want to LOVE the alpstar pants, I just hope they fit me well. I am a little worried they report a pretty short inseam, but we'll see.

You know, I am actually excited when they are predicting cold weather, cuz it means I can wear more Ibex!!

[Crankin]

Trisk, I have never worn anything but a pair of long underwear (silk, either light weight or mid weight) under my Ibex tights for snow shoeing, hiking, or x country skiing. I don't know what style the Ibex tights are; my husband bought them for me on STP before I knew what that was! They are part wool and part wind block fabric and extremely warm. I hiked in them in Lake Placid in -8 temps. There would be no need to wear anything over something like these. They are not quite as skin tight like cycling tights, but almost as tight.
It finally warmed up a bit here. It actually felt warmer tonight coming home from Cambridge than when I left at 11. I have to get up at 4:30 to head to San Diego, where I will be forgetting about wool. Well, I did pack my Shak for the evenings.

[jobob]

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

Oh yeah, I like wool too.