Completely smitten with it. Gorgeous. (Plus, how to wash this.)
Echoing the previous reviewer: I have a highly rated long down coat that a good wind blew through on the Alaskan coast in 12F weather. The wind chill factor blowing off the ice in the Bay made for serious cold. I bought this, and that will never happen again. This is warm. This alone is enough for most of my winter days in northern California, without being too hot once you go inside. I get compliments every time I wear it. It's a quite nice though not utterly decadent grade of merino and the patterning in color and cable and lacework edgings is perfect. It's double-thick and warm at the neck without the constrictions of a turtleneck. There's a lot of forgiving give to the wool, so although I sized up, turns out I didn't have to. I wore both on a trip up in the Rocky Mountains in January and even having gone up slightly large this still fit under the down coat with no squeezing, which my wrists appreciated, while making it absolutely impenetrable by any kind of cold. But the best part of all is how much I love this coat. Taken good care of, a good wool sweater lasts for life. Speaking of which: let me add details to their simple "Hand wash only." Wool, and especially merino with its extra crimps, felts and shrinks under a combination of temperature change, agitation, and water. So what you want to do is fill up your basin/sink/whatever you're washing it in with soapy water at room temperature. Swish it to suds it up and gently put the coat in and let it soak a little while. Gently lift it out with hands under it to support its wet weight, let the water drain out below it, fill up again with water and then put the coat back in with as little movement as possible. Repeat if desired to get the suds out and lay it out on preferably a white towel so there are no dyes for it to pick up, although being a nearly black coat that won't matter so much. Roll it up in the towel, step on the towel to squeeze the water out, and then lay the coat out flat (again on white) to dry overnight. Which is a lot of words but not much work at all. You do want to do this: dry cleaning can make wool or cashmere feel harsh. (But if that happens, hand washing softens things up again. Sometimes you have to do it twice but it works.) Oh, and if you snag a stitch, if the yarn isn't broken all you have to do is tug a bit at the ones around it till it works its way back in again. Read more
