Can you tell i'm on a mitten kick ;) ? Anyway, I took up jogging over the summer, so this is going to be my first winter as a runner, and i'll be learning as I go. Friday morning was the coldest weather i've jogged in, 40 degrees, and it felt great! When I started out though, my hands were very cold, but by the end were more than warm & sweaty. I wasn't wearing anything on them, and wondered when & what I should be wearing on my hands, so I started Googling. Apparently when it's that cold, I should be starting out with a thin pair of runner's gloves or mittens. They should be thin, breathable, and moisture wicking. Hmmmm... I know something that does all that... merino wool! It does everything those sports fabrics do, and more. I made myself a pair, and will be selling them at my upcoming craft fairs, for you local folks that are interested. As a bonus, they can worn inside other mittens, as a doubler, as well.
13 comments:
Great idea! I love your son's mittens and hat, too. He is lucky to have such a talented Mommy. I love my mittens and doublers. They arrived Friday and I have modeled them for everybody! My 'little' boy, who is 20 ;0) , really liked them. My little sis wants to see them. She was keen on the idea of doublers. I asked and her winter jackets are colorful. I am the black and grey girl, so I think I am safe to let her look at them!! Thank you so much!
Brenda, I'm so glad you like your mittens & doublers! Thanks for letting me know :)
Great idea. On friday I thought of going to the store to buy a running long sleeve sweater or something and then I remembered that I could use one of my thrifted wool sweaters. I ran early on Saturday morning and it was fine: warm when I needed it, moisture wicking, never too hot (but I took it off after a couple of miles).
How do you like the wool running shorts you made a little while ago?
Steph, I did that same thing! I was about to buy a running shirt yesterday, and realized I could wear any merino sweater I have jogging. I loved the running shorts I made. They were much better than the synthetic ones. I have to make them smaller though, because I lost a little weight (whoo-hoo!). I want to make some runner's tights out of merino, but i'm trying to work it all out in my head before I attempt it.
Hi
YOu don't know me, but I found your blog the other day. I LOVE to upcycle from thrifted wool.
Ironically, I took up running this fall too. I have made a couple of hoodies from pieced merino wool and also just altered some men's sizes that had shrunk down to fit me.
I have also made earbands and hats from merino that I lined in cashmere. LOVE THEM.
I love your gloves... I am going to need to make those today.
I am really interested in your wool shorts. Are they on your blog?
If you figure out tights let me know. Wool tights are so expensive. I don't really care what they look like but I would think all the seams would be annoying on my legs? I have found a couple of long wool skirts to give me good lengths, but even at 5'4" to get tights I would have to do a lot of piecing.
So there is a real market for upcycled wool running gear. I love my $100 Icebreaker longsleeve and it's easy to wash and will last but I could go through 20 thrifted sweater for that price!
I will try to make running shorts next. If I could make wool bras I could be the 100% wool runner;-)
pms, I posted the shorts tutorial here:
http://resweater.blogspot.com/2010/06/tutorial-tuesday-yogajoggingathletic.html
For the pants, I am thinking of trying something pieced together with the seams on the outside. It may look a little goofy, but I look ridiculous when I run anyway, so what the heck ;)
Steph, Wool bras, eh? Hmmmmm....
I also started running this summer and I am looking forward to running through the winter.
I could go for a wool bra, as long as it was supportive enough. Good bras are unbelievably expensive, and they are not moisture wicking enough. Might have to give that a try... and I love the idea of making my own running tights!
So much for trying to kick my wool addiction, looks like I have a good excuse to fall off the wagon and buy more wool :)
I saw a show many years ago of this lady who had this 'resweatering' business. I loved the idea and have made many things from old sweaters. I tell you what... it is awesome when mommies can find a way to recycle clothes. Love your work!
Ok, ladies,
Last night I made a pair of running pants last night, and i'm really happy with how they came out. I will make another pair this week, but I am waiting for my next batch of sweaters to come out of the freezer, so I can find another big merino. I basically just made a pair of shorts (like in that running shorts tutorial), as long as I could make them with the body of the sweater, then attached the arms of the sweater as the lower part of the legs. I put the seams (where I attached the legs) on the outside for comfort, and made the seam bigger than it needed to be. The end result makes it look like you are wearing shorts over tights. My husband was cracking me up after I made them, and kept asking "you made those?", "how did you make those?" "those look like real exercise pants. You made those from a sweater? Really?".
Thanks to you, I will never buy hats and mittens again.
I started jogging this fall (I call it "walging" as it's still walking AND jogging LOL). I love knitting mittens, but just don't have much time now. I've never sewn mittens but would love to try! Do you have any suggestions for patterns? I don't like the simple ones where you just trace your hand--I'd rather knit ones than do those. I do plan to make some running pants, or at least shorts to go under my pants, and then socks that are thin for in my shoes but with a thicker leg portion. Might cobble that up with store bought socks/recycle sweater legs, since I don't think I can knit tight enough for running shoe socks.
Tracy,
Congrats on starting running! I have a mitten tutorial here:
http://resweater.blogspot.com/2010/10/tutorial-tuesday-recycled-wool-mittens.html
I have a running pants (with a link to my tutorial for jogging shorts) tutorial here:
http://resweater.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-tutorial-tuesday-recycled-merino.html
As for sewn socks, I linked to some patterns I found online here:
http://resweater.blogspot.com/2010/01/recycled-wool-socks.html
Hope that's enough to get you started! :)
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