Monday, February 6, 2017

Rosecup Aqua festival review



Oh man. What to say about Rosecup.



This wrap really did surprise me - When it first landed it was so crunchy and stiff, I thought it could never fit in with the rest of my fispi collection. I had to really give it a workout, but after about a week of sleeping on it, sitting on it, running through rings, and throwing it in the dryer with tennis balls, it finally gave up! If you are buying this for a newborn, don't be discouraged! It really does evolve into the buttery soft wrap we've come to expect from firespiral... Just maybe send it to visit with a friend with toddlers first!


Now, this wrap is really, stunningly amazing. If you haven't given a Festival a try, you really truly need to. The weave is just fantastic, waffly and cushy, while still being thin enough for summer. I found the 100% cotton ones to be a smidgen less supportive in single pass carries with my huge toddlers, but Perran and Rosecup both are amazing with even big kids! I have it in base, but with the linen you can get away with basically any length! The weave gives enough grip, so you can get away with slip knots or even ring finishes! Festival is a loose weave, so you might get pulls... But they're some of the easiest pulls to fix, you might not even need a needle or pin.


Now about the color. I am not usually a pink kind of girl(it's a redhead thing), but this color is the most
beautiful shade of coral/sunset/SOMETHING that it just works. And of course, aqua is the perfect blue as well. Either side worn out is lovely. I honestly didn't expect to love this wrap, just based on personal preference for color... But here it is. my go-to blue jeans wrap. This is a truly underrated wrap, it can be neutral, dressy, casual, winter, summer... Basically a perfect all around workhorse!


Barnacle Aqua Seafoam Review and spam

So. My Husband stays pretty well involved in my wrap hobby. I make an effort to get his opinion on a wrap before I buy, because I figure he'll be the one seeing me in them the most, and I'd rather he think I look nice in them. He's the one who takes the pictures when we go out on our walks together, and he knows as much about Fispi as I do.

When I first showed him pictures of Barny, he HATED it. He said straight-faced that it looked like corrugated cardboard. I was so excited about the viscose, but he was completely against it. Just about broke my heart, but I braced myself and moved on. Surely there would be another viscose blend soon, and I'd just live without Barny in my life!

A local friend got a size 3 in the release, and after she'd honeymooned with it a while, I borrowed it for a bit - I was hooked. The glowing colors, the texture, the wrap qualities! I showed it to Tam, sure that in person, he would understand the majesty. He was a bit slow to warm, but after feeling how soft and interesting the texture was, he finally gave the green-light for me to start looking for one. After I returned Carly's to her, he actually said a few times that he missed it!

I was lucky enough to find a size 7 for sale on our side of the pond, and I snapped it up! It was still quite crunchy when it arrived, as the mom hadn't had it long. With a wash and a week of wear, it's absolutely soft and wonderful... Tam says that it's so comfortable to wrap our big boy with, it's made the list of his favorites now - as hard as that is to believe!
As far as a wrap review: Soft, squish-to-toddler worthy(absolutely, completely) and pretty quick to break in. Give it a few hours in the dryer with tennis balls if you don't have toddlers.




Medium-thin in hand, but wraps a bit thicker. So easy to wrap with, not a chore at all! Has the support of a heavy-blend wrap, without the weight. This will be a beautiful winter wrap, as well as a great spring-time wrap. The different sides are both gorgeous, and have a totally different feel from the other!

This is so nice in base, but rocks as a shorty as well. Grippy enough for a solid slip knot, and slides enough for passes. Fantastic all around wrap!

Elvin Burnish Birches Review



Myself and a handful of other moms in the US are playing round-robin with a lovely batch of wraps from Firespiral right now. Of course, with my exhausted pregnant mom-brain, I totally forgot that I had a wrap on the way. When it arrived, I was thrilled(of course!) but completely baffled... This was a color I hadn't seen anything of! And I could barely guess that it was possibly a wool blend, but if so it was the softest wool I'd ever touched. I was so excited, I don't think I've fallen this hard for a wrap in a long time. On top of that, my hubby loved the colors - said it's something he thinks he'd wear out! Maybe it's just me, but that's a high sign of praise for him..




First impressions: Straight out of the bag, this thing was soft. So snuggly, it draped beautifully, and I had it pegged for a viscose blend! The gray is a beautifully heather color, while the green is lovely, subtle and shiny.

"Right" side

"Wrong" side


I was cautious about washing, but too eager to wait... I snapped a few loom state shots, and started it with a wool setting and detergent on my washer. Still damp, this thing felt like the softest sweater I've ever had. I was fairly confident a tumble on extra-low heat wouldn't hurt it, so I went ahead. It came out 20-30 minutes later, and it felt like the most lovely, fluffy, broken in blanket I could describe. It was totally floppy, but had a slinky drapey-ness to it that felt almost like Cashmere? I was so excited for ups!



This wrap felt quite unique to me - thinner in hand than Grizedale, and less prickly. This is probably due to the blend, which is 87% cotton, 5% merino, and 8% linen... just enough wool and linen to add lovely cushion and support, but not enough to feel a trace of prickle! I feel confident that this will make a fantastic year-round woolie, it wasn't smothering at all even after a 2.5 hour wrap nap!


Look at those pleats!


I got to put my toddler up a few times, but I don't think I got a good feel for how well this will preform with big kids. I'm on restricted toddler wrapping, so we only got about 20 minutes in. That said, in the 20 minutes we had, I felt that Elvin could have kept going a lot longer! The shoulders had a lovely cushion, I didn't have any sagging or digging, and even in warmer temperatures we were totally comfortable. We carried in a ruck and a Double-Hammock, and both were totally comfortable.

Pleeaaaatsss!


 I would definitely want this as a longer size for myself, as I've been favoring multi-pass carries... but I think it would hold well enough as a shorty as well. It felt just a smidgen slippery to me, so I'd be sure to tighten slip-knots well with big kids!

So I'm completely in love with this wrap. I love the feel, the color, the drape, the thickness... I am so looking forward to ordering mine in a few weeks! Now, for a bit more spam...















Saturday, February 4, 2017

Pyrula Aqua Vortex Review - AKA: I love Aqua!

Pyrula Aqua Vortex spam, and a bit of Aqua Geekery :)
I'm a lover of the classic fispis, the original Cyano colorway was so breathtaking and it practically glowed... I think Fispi has finally re-created that with it's Aqua cotton.
I've had the chance to play with 4 Aquas now(pictured), and each one has softened up beautifully within a few ups. The color is hard to capture on camera, but you can see how the blue just shines. I love how the Aqua changes based on the color it's sitting next to, the shade of blue changes based on what the warp thread is. In Rosecup it's more purple, where in Delph it is a cooler blue.
When I first saw Pyrula, I thought it looked quite similar to Barny, and was not terribly impressed. I so love Barny, so I felt that Vortex was somehow redundant? Either way, it wasn't until I took a look at both of them together that I realized how different and unique they actually are. I still look at Barny and see a stormy ocean, where as Pyrula's linen side is the most beautiful wheat color, a gorgeous golden yellow. It started out a smidgen crunchy, but turned into butter after a few hours in my dryer with some dryer balls.
This is on the heavier side, even with some breaking in... it feels like it wraps a bit short, so I'd buy a size longer than you need just to be safe. It's not as thick as Sylvan or Andromeda, but it still had a larger knot than I was expecting. Completely, 100% toddler proof - I walked the mall a few times and my big toddler was completely weightless... even in a ruck! I'm on restricted toddler carrying right now, but in this beauty I wasn't hurting at all even after a nice long walk. I had absolutely no problems with digging, which I've been quite sensitive to lately.
Pyrula has some gorgeous texture, I think it would make a perfect shorty for the summer... Grippy and cushy enough to hold in a slip-knot, but would also be lovely and breathable in base or +1. I think the Linen and beautiful colors make this wrap a perfect year-round wrap... Snowy colors in the winter, and sunny sand in the summer.

 Overall, I really underestimated Pyrula. It makes for a lovely soft and absolutely gorgeous wrap that can be casual or classy. It's so sturdy, I would trust it from squish to toddler to preschooler. As per usual for me, I adore the "wrong" side, and I love the texture this linen has.


Well done again, Fispi ladies! <3