WoolWeenies Club

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Back in merino every day now again... feels so good!

[jessmarimba]

It's 15 degrees out right now (I know, not all that cold for some of you Canadians) and while I love merino...I've moved on. I'm wearing my down jacket in the house and it's not coming off

I got a new Emu merino sweater the other day though. So warm and cute...but so recognizable that even though I WANT to wear it every time I go out, I can't.

[NbyNW]

Back in merino every day now again... feels so good!

Me too!

I've also been teaching myself how to knit and crochet. So far I've made a pair of merino fingerless mitts which are great indoors when the house is chilly (I can keep typing) or outside as a second layer over my gloves. But they were only so helpful in this week's -22C temps. In theory it will warm up again before the end of the week, in the meantime I am headed home to the states for turkey, trimmings, and other winter fattening-up foods.

Next up (after I finish Christmas gifts) is going to be some nice warm leggings that will go under my jeans for when I'm out walking the dog.

[Triskeliongirl]

Does anyone have this: http://www.ibexwear.com/shop/product...z-long-sweater

Opinions? I am looking for something to layer under my REI LaSelva trenchcoat (http://www.rei.com/product/794282) to extend its temperature range, especaially for travelling when I don't want to bring too many clothes but may visit different places with different climates. How low in temp do you think I could go with a zepher, shak, pez, and rei trenchcoat? That is would it be as warm as my north face primaloft lined trenchcoat?

Any info. on styling? Most reviews are good but one called in frumpy and I DO NOT like frumpy.

Any info. on fabric? I am imagining it will be like my shak but not sure.

Any info. on sizing? All my ibex are small, but to layer over the shak and under the M trench I am thinking to order it in M. It is expensive, but I have a 20% off coupon......

[NbyNW]

Trisk, what kind of climates are you traveling to/from?

I'm not familiar with the Ibex sweater but it I don't think it looks frumpy at all.

For travel mid and outer layers I'm starting to become fond of down and even synthetics, like Patagonia's nanopuff series. They're lightweight and they squish down small.

This is becoming important since I've been experiencing HUGE differences in temperature whenever I travel from here. Over Thanksgiving weekend it was -25C here when I left, and when I got to Pittsburgh we weren't even talking about freezing temperatures.

Or last January when I was backpacking in the Dominican Republic -- it's nice to wear something warm between home and airport, but if that thing had been wool, it would have been taking up a lot of space in my pack, for something I didn't need all week.

If you are traveling from mild/warm temps to cooler temps, then you probably have to plan differently than what I've just described.

My mother wanted to buy me a new wool coat when I was home over Thanksiving. Wasn't gonna say no to that! But I had worn my Patagonia Fiona Down Parka on the trip out. Guess which one rode home in my suitcase?

The Fiona might be worth looking at -- it's got nice lines, and I think it would fit well under a trenchcoat.

[GLC1968]

Trisk -

I don't have that particular sweater, but I do have a Pez vest. I absolutely LOVE it. It's one of my favorite pieces. It always looks good and never gets tired looking like some other wool items do after a lot of use and infrequent laundering.

It's going to be a little thicker than a zepher and very similiar to a shak in weight. But it's smoother looking - almost sleeker in appearance due to the felting (without being thick or inflexible). It's really sharp. I would also suggest that due to the felting, it's probably slightly warmer than a shak as well (this is hard for me to compare since my version has no sleeves!). But I want to reitterate that my vest is lightweight, flexible and very layerable even though it's felted and has good insulting properties.

I will say that a long sweater like that would totally look frumpy on me, but that's because I'm built opposite from you! With a small top and a big bottom (wide hips/legs), long jackets and sweaters are very unflattering on me just making me look short and stumpy. For someone like you who carries your weight higher, I bet it would be adorable!

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks for the good suggestions. I live in a warm place, and sometimes travel to cold places, or make trips to multiple places. For example, we have family in Portugal, colleagues in Switzerland, so I might make a trip to Europe in winter where I am going from south to north and don't want to carry a million different coats. Or I may travel to san francisco or boston in winter, but not sure how cold it will be while I am there so like to have layering options. I do have a patagonia down sweater that I layer under my arctyrex parker, but not sure I like the puffiness which is why I was attracted to the idea of the pez long sweater. I do look good in long sweaters and long jackets, and like them for the added warmth over the more typical short jackets.

[NbyNW]

I hear you about the puffiness. Great for warmth, but maybe a bit too casual for dinner at a nice restaurant. Those beautiful Ibex pieces really can be versatile that way! It all depends on what your plans are and how much you are prepared to carry.