WoolWeenies Club

[moonfroggy]

so whee can i buy wool fabric like the stuff ibex uses so i ca sew my own wool clothes?

i love ibex clothes and now i am getting into sewing and sewing a lot of my own clothes and i am feeling brave enough and adventurous enough to try and sew wool shirts and leggings.

[Catrin]

I can't advise you on sewing, but when I was still doing a lot of needlework I found some nice wool fabric that I used for surface embroidery from a company that specialized in period reenactments. They sent me a swatch so I could look at it before I ordered a couple of yards of it.

I am sure you will find more traditional sources, but wanted to mention this as an option. Sounds like fun!

[Crankin]

I may have made this comment last year on Rosh Hashanah, but yesterday, during the service, when the rabbi was asking all of the participants who were going to blow a shofar what kind of animals the horn came from, when one participant said, "Ibex," DH and I looked at each other and started laughing.
I think this is called a cognitive distortion. No one else around us in the synagogue was laughing...
I guess this means I am really a wool weenie.

[Biciclista]

Crankin, that's really cute! have a good year!

[malkin]

Happy New Year!

Thanks for that laugh!

[Jolt]

If any of you are near or going to be anywhere near Brunswick, ME--check out the Maine Woolens outlet store!! They have really nice washable wool blankets made right here in Maine (and some non-wool ones too, and a few other things) and there are some great deals. They sell online too, but the prices are high online--much better in the store, especially the 50% off bin. I went today and picked up the following for less than $150 total: one full-size blanket, one twin blanket (pastel pink and off white, by far NOT my favorite color scheme but they were 50% off and it will be a nice warm emergency blanket to keep in my car), one nice thick throw, and two recycled-fiber beach/picnic/camping blankets (one is going to be a gift) plus a couple of carrying straps for the beach blankets and an AMC guide to various outdoor trips in Maine. Not a bad haul, definitely worth the trip!

[KnottedYet]

Oh, MY!!!!!

Smartwool is making a footless wool tight! http://www.titlenine.com/product/735...artwool+tights

Must have! Must order! SusanO, sell these on TE! PDQ! S'il vous plait!

I love footless tights. I love that I can wear them a couple times between washes without stinky-foot syndrome. I love that I can wear socks over them without having the "two layer slip-n-slide" effect inside my boots. I love that I can use them as longjohns, sleep in them, walk around the house in them. I love that the heels and toes don't wear thin and sprout holes (since they don't have feets) and cut their lives short. I love that I can wear them with a skirt and flip-flops.

Seriously, if TE sold these I'd be ordering them right now.

[goldfinch]

Oh, MY!!!!!

Smartwool is making a footless wool tight! http://www.titlenine.com/product/735...artwool+tights

Must have! Must order! SusanO, sell these on TE! PDQ! S'il vous plait!

I love footless tights. I love that I can wear them a couple times between washes without stinky-foot syndrome. I love that I can wear socks over them without having the "two layer slip-n-slide" effect inside my boots. I love that I can use them as longjohns, sleep in them, walk around the house in them. I love that the heels and toes don't wear thin and sprout holes (since they don't have feets) and cut their lives short. I love that I can wear them with a skirt and flip-flops.

Seriously, if TE sold these I'd be ordering them right now.

That isn't a bad price either for wool and it is nice to see colors other than black. I admit that I use wool long underwear like tights.

[OakLeaf]

I wonder what the difference is between those and these, besides $38. The "long underwear" wears like leggings or tights and they're definitely lighter weight than SW "midweight" tops. (That's actually my only complaint about them, the fabric is so thin that I don't dare wear them on the bike.) I looooooove mine.


ETA: hmmmmmmmmm, REI fall sale, I might need another pair of those....

[KnottedYet]

I wear my Ibex long johns from waaaay back (when they made them dense and tough) on the bike under a pair of cargo shorts. But they don't work as tights with a skirt. (to get the same quality as the old Ibex, you have to check out Jones Wares)

It looks like the Smartwool tights are the same light weight as regular tights (gauging by the expansion of the stitching in the model photos). That's what I need for work, and I'll happily pay $10 more for a pair of wool leggings than for a pair of whatever-content leggings from Hue.

Smartwool has never let me down for socks, so I'm willing to trust them for tights/leggings.

I didn't catch if they were made in USA or not. I guess I'd better go back and check.

ETA: I cannot find info about where they are made and who is gainfully employed making them, so I must assume for the nonce that they are not made in the USA. Much of Smartwool and Wigwam *are* made in USA, so I hope to find out more after my little jaunt to Title 9 tomorrow...

[Blueberry]

I didn't catch if they were made in USA or not. I guess I'd better go back and check.

ETA: I cannot find info about where they are made and who is gainfully employed making them, so I must assume for the nonce that they are not made in the USA. Much of Smartwool and Wigwam *are* made in USA, so I hope to find out more after my little jaunt to Title 9 tomorrow...

Smartwool's website says "Knit in Korea" under features

[KnottedYet]

Smartwool's website says "Knit in Korea" under features

Well, that's a bummer.

I have an uncle who was a manager at a wool-carpet factory, and their entire shop was shut down and moved overseas. I'm a little cranky about the loss of US manufacturing.

It's bloody hard to find anything made in the USA any more. And we wonder why we have so few jobs and why our economy sucks? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKv6RcXa2UI

Too bad Wigwam doesn't make tights: http://www.wigwam.com/AboutUs.aspx

Guess I'll be sticking with Hue (made in USA) non-wool footless tights... until my patriotic pipe-dreams collapse under the siren-song of wool lust.

[Trek420]

Guess I'll be sticking with Hue (made in USA) non-wool footless tights... until my patriotic pipe-dreams collapse under the siren-song of wool lust.

I dunno, of the four companies it says 95% of No Nonsense is made in USA, 75% of Burlington products. The others: HUE, CALVIN KLEIN & JOCKEY no such claim so probably all imported. But Wigwam's made here. Guess I'll review it.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, the SW long bottoms are from China. Ibex bottoms just don't fit me, unfortunately. Too long and too un-curvy. Korea is some better, I suppose. www.productsofslavery.org (although that site has some obvious omissions, so take it with a grain of salt)

[KnottedYet]

I'm very afraid Jones Wares is gonna go under.

They've had limited supplies of US made wooly goodness for MONTHS now. http://www.joneswares.com/