From the last week or so

[magid]

I think I want waterproof, warm, washable (www!) socks, which might let me keep wearing the Keens through the winter*. They seem to exist on the spendy side of the spectrum; does anyone have recommendations for brands to look for or avoid?
* I was wearing what I'd thought were reasonable shoes, since I'd used them for short walks at work, and have had them a while, but apparently standing around at a party/a club for hours, plus dancing, plus 6 miles walking was too much: I ended up with very unhappy feet, which had me thinking about alternate footgear in cold and sometimes wet weather.

Tuesday night I was going through Inman Square, and noticed pale things drifting from on high. Too large and regular to be snow (and though it was cold, there wasn't any precipitation in the forecast), I looked around until I spotted the source: a bubble machine on a ledge outside someone's second floor window. It was right around freezing, so instead of mostly-transparent spheres, they were opaque white spheres drifting down, crashing on the street with a puff of smokiness on the pavement, not shattering into shards. Magical, mysterious.

Also, the moon has been beautiful these last few nights, a waxing crescent moon.

Reminder to self: not enough sleep makes it much more likely to develop a sore throat/cold thing. (Does that mean that they're pretty much out there all the time, and by being stupid and lowering resistance by minimal sleep, I am felled, or I just notice the underslept times that result in sickness? Not sure.) Sleep is useful, not just a time for not accomplishing stuff, so stop being stupid about getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

Monday I went to the last of the food science lectures at Harvard, on the topic of culinary disasters and learning from them. It was a fun lecture, but more anecdotal than useful (though I had time to get the top of a hat crocheted :-). It did get me thinking about my own recent kitchen failures, including the attempts at watermelon liqueur (there's just not enough watermelon flavor; I'm hoping that aging will help, but if not, suggestions for uses are welcome) and the one failed experiment with the TJ's peanut flour, which was as a topping for a fruit crisp. It might have worked if I'd mixed it with other flours or grain flakes, but as it was, it was too dense. On the plus side, the other two things I tried (savory dumplings in a spicy greens and squash stew, in chocolate chip cookies) worked well (though I think the cookies would have been better with chopped peanuts in them as well).

Hanukah featured: candles reflected in the window, home-made latkes (someone else's home), and two surprises (a cake and an Alice calendar), among other things. Note to self: buy more wooden matches, since there's only one left.

Comments

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Waterproof socks? I don't think those exist. And if you did, you wouldn't want them. Your feet would soon be swimming in cold, clammy sweat. Ew.

What you want is socks that wick moisture away, and/or don't get cold even if they do get wet. Woollen socks will still stay warm, but may chafe if you get the rough-knit kind. I'm fond of Thorlos, which are a good brand of synthetic socks for cold weather, and are good for walking and hiking, too. EMS, REI, and CitySports have good selections of these things, though some other stores may also have them. Not sure which ones would have the best prices. Try looking online for comparison.

[magid.livejournal.com]

When I Googled for waterproof socks, the things that came back were ones that were waterproof from the outside, but had a wicking layer as the innermost layer. (REI and their competitors all carried them.)

I don't think I'd want to wear wool socks with sandals through snow; I haven't looked into other synthetics.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

They do exist. The only brand I've played with recently (at REI for ~$25) is SealSkinz (http://www.sealskinz.com). Allegedly they are breathable but from my experience only minimally. I wear Teva sandals year round (because my feet are convex in a place where most feet are concave and Tevas are open there) and for cold weather I use REI branded expedition (http://www.rei.com/product/664970) socks underneath a pair of water proof socks. They are a fairly inexpensive, merino wool sock with impressively thick piling. The wool has the benefit of wicking away moisture from your skin and is also fairly warm even when wet. The expedition socks are good on their own (in sandals) at temperatures well below freezing when I'm not cycling (and otherwise getting them wet).

SealSkinz are basically a sandwich of a goretex like layer between two cotton knit layers. This has two problems. First, after less usage than I'd like the layers start to separate. Second, the outer layer gets soaked and on bicycle the wind potentially makes them cold unless you have a good warm layer underneath.

You can also find neoprene socks, but most are not completely waterproof. They are water resistant and are still insulative even when wet (they're a closed cell foam of neoprene rubber). If they were fully sealed at the seams they could be waterproof but the ones I have are just stitched together.

Also at REI you can find something called Stormsocks that are supposedly water resistant. They suck in this regard. Walking through damp grass soaks them through. There is also a Stormsocks waterproof sock on the REI website. I can't speak for these at all.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much; this is really helpful.