Good Woolies

This past winter, I have finally started in on wool. After reading about it for so long, and having used modern technical fabrics, and come to realize their short-falls, I've been quite interested to give wool a try.

For Christmas, my sweet wife bought me 2 wool garments. First being the Kucharik long-sleeve jersey from Rivendell, second was a wool T-shirt from some on-line retailer. I've worn the Kucharik jersey for cycling, and skiing, and I have to say that this is a great, tough garment. 3 back pockets for tubes, tools and food. I can wear the jersey several rides before it needs washing (not the case at all with synthetic technical fabrics). A little caveat to this statement. I'm not saying they are perfectly clean, but I'm riding solo, and I don't sweat much when I ride. I used to only use modern synthetic technical clothing, and still do use the synthetics. When I ride once in the modern stuff, it's time for a cleaning. A second ride isn't even optional.

A few months ago, my parents gave me $100 birthday money (yeah, I still get birthday money from my folks, but hey, I'm not even 30 yet!?) and I've been saving it fiercely. I have virtually spent it hundreds of times, on many different products. I started tracking what I was virtually spending this on, and it kept coming down to 2 things. Wool cycling clothing, and brooks saddles. I figured I'd keep squeezing those dollars until I came across some good deals. After all, I don't actually need any additional bicycle equipment or related accoutrement's.

A few weeks ago, I saw Russ Roca posting about the Swobo Sunday Bobby, and that he already had a few of them. What's more, they were on sale. So I jumped over to the site to check it out myself.

Sure enough, a great deal on a great product. I also ended up picking up a 100% merino wool T-shirt. I've yet to use these for cycling, but I have worn them each a few times to work, and for several ping pong matches. I will say, the T-shirt is of incredibly fine merino. The bobby is not quite so soft, but still doesn't itch against bare skin.

If you're one who hasn't given fine wool a try, I highly recommend you do. It feels great in a wide range of temperatures, and looks good too. Swobo kicks up the bobby and the T-shirt up a bit by sewing on a bicycle chain link to the left sleeve. Styling all the way.

Love Socks

My favorite present I’ve ever received. These socks. My wife made them for me by hand. The fit is perfect, 100% merino wool is fantastic and the bicycles on them are great. Can they get any better?....She even spun the yarn herself. Wow.

These socks mean an incredible amount to me. Just imagine, every single strand of yarn, came in a big pile, passed delicately and precisely through her fingers, being twisted from a loose fiber, to a strong strand. Then, after making a whole whack of the yarn, She painstakingly knits the socks together with needles made of wood. 4 or 5 needles being used at any given time. I tried knitting once, but I could not imagine how to make designs, and make socks that fit like they were formed around the foot that would wear them. In very few items have I ever seen craftsmanship and quality like this. And, she did it all for me. I’ve never felt so special while wearing any garment as I do when I wear these socks. Life is good. So is my sweet Wife!