WoolWeenies Club

[divingbiker]

OK, I can now compare my Neve sweaters to the Ibex Shak.

I've got two Neve sweaters--the Larissa and the Annabelle. I wore the Annabelle home for Christmas and got many compliments on how nice it looked. Both of these fit the same. I also got the old version of the Trudy; I love the design, but it is cut much, much smaller than the other two, and I am going to have to send it back. I wear a large and it fits like a smallish medium, I think.

I also got a black Shak full-zip on sale at REI. I'm wearing it today for the first time.

The Neve sweaters are a looser knit than the Shak, and feel a bit heavier. They're fuzzier due to the looser knit, and much dressier looking than the Shak. The Shak is very comfortable, but I think the pocket zipper makes it look pretty casual.

Size-wise, the Shak in a large is just a bit tighter than the Neves. Weirdly, the full zip Shak in a large fits me the same as the Shak jersey in an XL.

[Natasha]

I found the styles of Shaks to fit differently from each other also. I wear medium in the full zips, but found the half-zip to be quite a bit tighter in medium. I ended up with a large in the hooded shak (it is kind of big, but I like it much better than the medium fit). I didn't like the fit of the half zip and returned it.
I have 4 full zip Shaks, and 2 of them fit much tighter than the other 2. This is before being washed.

[Grog]

I got the Ibex bra during the Thanksgiving sale, just wore it today in fact. The fabric is the same density throughout (cups and straps), but I don't know what to compare it to. Considerably thinner than the Ibex Zepher T's, maybe just a touch heavier than my microweight SmartWool. It's more supportive than I thought it would be, but it wouldn't be enough for anything high impact. Certainly plenty supportive for hiking, cycling on bumpy roads, etc.

I'm an A to A-minus cup and I find the Ibex Balance bra to be plenty supportive for running. I reach for it when it's on the cold side though (so that I don't get bothered by a wet bra). Otherwise I'll go for something a bit more "flattening"...

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, we're all so different. I'm a B-/A+ cup but very bouncy, so for running I want a serious masher bra. In my running bras, my belly will stick out almost as much as my b00bs, and I don't have that much of a belly.

I can't wait for the new Ibex bras!

[Triskeliongirl]

I am in Portugal, and have a laundering question. I always hand wash and rack dry my ibex. But it is very damp here and I don't have time to get my things dry if I wash them tomorrow and hang them to dry. The tag says machine wash, but dry flat. Have you guys ever tried putting your ibex in a dryer? I don't wanna ruin them (or shrink them), but it would be nice to get everything clean tomorrow before I start a lot of travelling (pieces in question are shak, kate, razzle, zepher and norgie crew).

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

(pieces in question are shak, kate, razzle, zepher and norgie crew).

I have put all those pieces (except the razzle which i don't have) into a dryer set on LOW heat and then taken them out after 20 or 30 minutes and hung to finish drying overnight. After the brief time in the dryer they have been 'mostly' dry, and after hanging are quite dry in the morning. They haven't shrunk any noticable amount with this gentle treatment. You can always finish them in the air fluff (no heat) dryer setting if the machine has one.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Okay I'll wait for the new Ibex- a little more structure sounds like a good thing. If I buy one of the Biocompatible I will post a review.

[Triskeliongirl]

Thank you so much Lisa! I am having a great time. Layering my ibex is working out perfectly. Its just hard to launder on the road, but I think drying on low occasionally will be perfectly fine. The only piece I am disappointed in is my alpstar pant. It was already a little loose when I bought it, and then it stretched out a lot after wearing and laundering didn't bring it back in. But, I have other things to wear so I'll be fine.

We have been in Portugal since a few days before christmas visiting family. Tomorrow we head out on the next stage of our adventure, which includes professional visits to Seville, Madrid, Barcelona and Lausanne.

The only bad thing is that I MISS MY BIKE, but its too wet here for it to have made any sense to bring it.

[Crankin]

I am in love with the Ibex underpants! I used them on my x country ski trip and they made a big difference as to how warm my azz was. Definitely need more pairs.
Today I wore my hooded Shak skiing, with a Craft base layer and my Go Lite jacket. It was perfectly fine, at 15 degrees with a brisk wind. I found the Smart wool base layer to be the best for winter activities, but when I wore it with the Shak, the whole thing felt itchy. It must have been the combination of the 2 things, because I love the Smart Wool base layers. Need more of those, too!

[GLC1968]

Trisk - I don't know if it's too late or not, but I wouldn't put the Kate or the Razzel in the dryer. My Kate shrunk (mostly in length) when dried and my Twizzel (which I think is similar in fabric to the Razzel) shrunk a LOT. In both cases, I tried to do what Lisa suggested (mostly to get off the dog hair!) but I forgot them and they dried the whole way and shrunk. I still wear them, but they aren't as nicely fitting as my other stuff.

I have fully dried one of my shaks, my zepher 1/2 zip and my norgie crew with no shrinkage at all.

[redrhodie]

I went to dinner last night with a very fashionable friend, and she had on these fantastic boots. In the dim light, I couldn't quite see what they were, so we went into the light, and they were a very tall, plain gray version of these:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/04...4foraging.html

I just googled "Russian wool boots" and found this article. I don't know if you wool weenies have discussed them before, but I thought some of you would love to see them!

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks GLC, but its too late. The kate and razzle did shrink a little, but they were already a tad loose so they still fit fine. The shaks seem totally unchanged. I really didn't have a choice traveling. I just couldn't get them dry any other way and I really needed to start this leg of my trip with clean clothes.

[emily_in_nc]

Well, thanks to (enabler) Triskeliongirl, who clued me in on the REI sale on Ibex full-zip Shaks, I now have my first Ibex garment (Shak in black) on the way. I hope it fits, and I hope I love it as much as everyone else who has one seems to! I'm very excited...

[Tokie]

Wow Redrhodie, those Valenki boot are cute! Do they have a leather or hard sole? Looks like the Russian answer to Ugg boots! Tokie

[malkin]

I love the valenki!
Some have soles and others are just wool. You can get a pair of "galoshi" for the wool ones.