My first impression was that there is a lot more black and less white than I was expecting…excellent, because I am not careful about keeping wraps clean. I threw it in the wash immediately, and dried it on a low tumble. Fresh out of the wash I noticed how textured it is – lots of micro-texture usually means a good amount of grip. After a wash, the next important question for me is always whether to give it a steam iron or not. I have found that I prefer some wraps ironed (Confetti, Hearts, Futurism), especially to help with breaking in (Trillium, Sparkleberry, Klee), and some I prefer un-ironed to preserve the airy pillows (Wingy, Surf Stripes, Fruit Stripes, P2). It’s important to note that ironing can change the feeling of a wrap completely. Since it wasn’t super wrinkled and felt reasonably un-stiff for a new wrap, I decided to give it a try without an iron to see how I liked it. I put LitterHill up in Wendy’s Double Hammock with a candy cane chest belt and I noticed that Backgammon has that kind of Velcro-stick that makes many Pavos so easy to work with: slippy enough for passes to glide easily over each other, but then sticks in place when you need it to. Delicious.
Even with just one wash/dry and no steam iron, I had no trouble tightening my chest pass, so I will say that while this is not an especially stretchy wrap, it has enough give to be easy to wrap with, fresh out of the tote. It’s a great width for a big kiddo – I could easily make a seat without sacrificing a high-on-the-back pass – but it’s not so wide that it would be overwhelming for a small baby.
Once I tied off, I instantly noticed the Pavo magic: no matter how thin/thick/rough/smooth/stretchy/stiff a Pavo wrap is, they seem to all feel like pillows on my shoulders. Zero dig. Another remarkable thing about this brand new wrap was that I didn’t struggle with it at all! I’m sure it will break in to a beautifully smooshy, floppy pile, but even with just a wash and dry it’s ready to wear.
This wrap is thin enough to be comfortable in hot weather, supportive enough to comfortably carry my big kiddo in a multipass carry, and has a nice amount of grip for ease in wrapping.
I’ll try to compare to other Pavos I’ve tried: #geekery
The thinnish but super support of Granite Apogee. Thicker than Futurism, thinner than LoFi.
More grip than Granite Apogee or Confetti, but not as much as Sparkleberry or Trillium. Maybe similar grip to Penumbra Shadow, but it’s micro-textured, so it behaves a little differently.
Less stretch than Ring System, slightly more than Shadow or Granite Apogee. Honestly the stretch reminds me most of the new Trilliums (Halo, Peony).
I definitely think it fills a gap in the Pavo lineup that I wasn’t even aware was there! Try Backgammon Intersection if you get a chance!
I love it un-ironed, but for the sake of a fully thorough experiment (#forscience), I think I’m going to iron it and see how it feels…more info to come ?
Pavo Textiles has done it again, and my babywearing journey will never be the same – I am blown away by Futurism Charcoal!
This post is slightly different than any of the other reviews I have written, because Futurism Charcoal has changed my babywearing life. So I will tell you about my babywearing life before I met Futurism Charcoal, what it was like for us to meet, and then about my babywearing life now that Futurism Charcoal is a part of it.
Futurism Charcoal makes a tiny Candy Cane Chest Belt (CCCB)!
Before Futurism Charcoal
First, I want to say that in over 2.5 years of babywearing, I have never used a wrap with any animal fibers (wools, alpaca, cashmere) because of a longstanding wool allergy that results in several days of rashy-discomfort after exposure. I have gone out of my way to avoid wools in my life, eschewing dozens of cute winter sweaters and scarves every winter. Even though I have heard that alpaca doesn’t trigger wool allergies in the same way, I’ve had a lot of trepidation about trying alpaca because of the fear of setting off my allergy with any wool-like fiber…until I saw Pavo’s Futurism Charcoal. If you follow me on any social media, you may have noticed that I’ve been drawn to monochrome wraps lately, and Futurism Charcoal immediately captured my full attention with its understated black warp and charcoal grey alpaca fill in a beautifully abstract pattern. Futurism Charcoal helped me (finally) decide that it was time to take the plunge into alpaca, and to risk an allergic reaction to see what would happen. (Spoiler alert – alpaca did NOT trigger my allergy. I am safe and probably snuggling Charcoal right now).
Futurism Charcoal is very snuggly.
Introduction to Futurism Charcoal (How We Met)
Futurism Charcoal was just released by Pavo Textiles at their Chicago trunk show, along with a few other beauties. A wonderful Pavotee from Chicagoland was able to pass Futurism Charcoal on to me in NYC. When Charcoal arrived, I was surprised by the thinness in hand. Since this was my first foray into animal fibers, I wanted to “do it right” – which meant that I ordered new wrap detergent (Eucalan) and a drying rack from Amazon. For those who may have not yet ventured beyond “easy-care” woven wraps, Alpaca is a hand-wash fiber – another place I never thought I would be with a woven wrap. I have tried to avoid “high-maintenance” fibers thus far in my babywearing journey, but again, Charcoal’s beauty drew me to it. Handwashing was actually not nearly as painful as I thought it would be. I used the Eucalan I had ordered and followed this wonderful graphic.
Graphic on handwashing a woven wrap from Pinterest, and my handwashing process for Futurism Charcoal.
I live in an apartment that does not have a washer/dryer, so hand washing Futurism Charcoal was actually much easier than running down to the basement to wash and dry, like I do with most 100% cotton wraps. I rolled Charcoal in a towel and squished (per the graphic) and then spread it out to dry on my rack.
It took about a day for Futurism Charcoal to fully dry, probably because it was folded upon itself in order for it to fit on the drying rack. If I had more space, I would have laid it all the way out and I bet it would have dried pretty quickly that way – but a day was not long to wait. After consulting with some Pavotees, I decided to forgo ironing and just get some ups. Our first carry in Charcoal was Wendy’s Double Hammock with a Candy Cane Chest Belt (Wendy’s DH CCCB). This is my go-to back carry right now, since I feel the chest pass is very supportive, and the two leg passes keep my carry secure no matter how much my big guy wants to bounce.
Futurism Charcoal in Wendy’s Double Hammock with LittlerHill.
My first impression of Charcoal was that it felt incredibly thin. I try not to let the in-hand feeling sway my expectations, especially when I am wrapping with Pavo woven wraps, since they seem to have some sort of magical, levitating qualities. But it is important to note that I am not a lover of thin wraps, because I usually find them quite diggy. Charcoal’s thinness, however, made it amazingly easy to wrap with, even this first time before it was thoroughly broken in. The combination of alpaca and cotton fibers gives Charcoal a nice amount of glide, which made tightening my passes easy…so easy that I have to redefine what it means to have a wrap that is “easy” to work with. Futurism Charcoal is the new easy-to-wrap-with wrap. Even with the easy glide, however, there is nothing slippery about Charcoal – once the passes are in place, they are happy to hang out there and wait for the wrapper to get onto the next pass.
Look at how beautifully fuzzy Futurism Charcoal is!
Once my carry was tied off, I took a breath and realized what a levitator Futurism Charcoal really is. I have described thick wraps as “marshmellowy” and I have definitely felt my big kid’s weight be well-supported by a wrap, but nothing has ever compared to this. He felt weightless! Let me reassure you that my wrap jobs are, in now way, good enough to make a big kid feel weightless – I have weird bunching and slacking all over the place most of the time, so you know that my review reflects real-life babywearing!
Toddler with arms in always loosens the top of my carries a bit, but Futurism Charcoal was very supportive, even with the slack.
Since Wendy’s DH CCCB was so remarkable for our first carry, we actually haven’t branched out to anything else in Futurism Charcoal yet, but I still wanted to share with you how much I love this wrap. Y’all, I wore my 32 lbs, bouncy, leany toddler for over an hour in Futurism Charcoal, and we only unwrapped because he wanted to ride in the stroller – I was cool to keep going. We strolled all along the Hudson River, enjoyed a crisp fall day, and even threw some acorns into the river. Futurism Charcoal remained supportive and comfortable for me and my wrapee for the whole afternoon.
A stroll next to the Hudson River and a beautiful sunset in Futurism Charcoal.
After Futurism Charcoal
I am no longer fearful of either alpaca or handwash-only fibers! An entire catalog of woven wraps are now available to me that have previously been on my “never” list. I also finally understand all the fuss over the WQs of wool – this alpaca blend has opened my eyes to what wool-devotees are so in love with. I am still probably too fearful of itchy allergies to try a wool woven wrap, but the WQs of this alpaca-cotton blend have definitely piqued my animal-fiber curiosity, and Futurism Charcoal is already in my top five favorite woven wraps I have ever tried.
LittlerHill and I were able to throw some acorns into the Hudson in Futurism Charcoal.
carries tried: Wendy’s Double Hammock with Candy Cane Chest Belt (Wendy’s DH CCCB)
wrap qualities (WQs): pleats itself pretty well, moderately dry, flat, bouncy, airy, thin in hand, glides well and then stays in place (but not grippy), very moldable, new wrapper friendly, super supportive, very little stretch, soft, fuzzy, slightly textured, light weight, neither saggy nor diggy
Every wrap I try from Pavo Textiles impresses me, and it’s never for the reasons I expect it to. As soon as I saw Sparkleberry Noir in a preview for their Spring 2016 Subscription Box, I was in love – monochrome gets me every time. One hint that made me think this wrap was made for me was the description given by Pavo: “…Sparkleberry is a heavyweight wrap and is not suitable for infants or inexperienced wrappers.” I love thick, heavy wraps – so much that I joke that I would wrap with a carpet if I could! In addition to the enticing description, I’d heard wonderful things about Sparkleberry’s wrap qualities, and I had even gotten to play with a Sparkleberry Veronica that visited briefly, but it was a short visit at a time that we weren’t wrapping much, so I really missed out on learning just how much I would love wrapping with SB Noir.
Big toddler snuggles in FWCC TUB. I didn’t think it was possible for this carry to be comfortable with my big kid, and I was so wrong!
I jumped on the opportunity to get SB Noir, and I am so glad I did because it has become one of my favorite wraps. Pavo’s description of its weight is absolutely correct – it is dense and heavy. Mine arrived in loomstate, and it has definitely taken some work to break in, but SB Noir can become very moldable and blankety with thorough use & love.
Once my toddler reached around 27 pounds, I pretty much gave up on front wrap cross carry (FWCC) unless I spread the reinforcing passes so that it was a multilayer carry, since I couldn’t get it quite comfortable enough otherwise. That was ok, but it made front wrapping take a little longer while I figured out how to spread all of the passes evenly. We switched to Kangaroo carry because it was easier to tie and tighten properly than FWCC with spread passes. Then when SB Noir arrived, the density and thickness made it difficult to get a nice flipped shoulder in Kangaroo carry, so I tried FWCC tied under bum (TUB) – that means I couldn’t spread out the reinforcing passes, but I gave it a try anyway. For a wrap to really fulfill its destiny here, I need it to have at least one comfortable front carry and one good solid (unpoppable) back carry. Much to my surprise, FWCC TUB with SB Noir was a cozy, snuggly success! This carry has become our go-to front carry with SB Noir, and I am thrilled to have a FWCC variation back in my rotation since I used this carry so many times earlier in our babywearing days that it’s almost like second nature to tie.
Since I got SB Noir in a shorter size, and because of it’s heaftiness, I tried it in what became our first easy and comfortable Ruck carry! I think the texture helps a lot to keep the ruck straps from slipping off my shoulders, which is usually a problem for me with a regular Ruck carry using other woven wraps.
SB Noir shines in a short size for a Ruck carry.
A wrap that does a comfortable and quick single layer carry well, both in front and in back, is unusual in my experience, and is likely to get more use in our wrap rotation, especially if I can easily throw it in my bag. SB Noir is all of those things, and is beautiful in addition to having great wrap qualities. I love monochrome wraps – no so much because I worry about matching, but because I don’t want the colors I am wearing to clash with my wrap! SB Noir is a perfect monochrome since it’s woven with black threads, but the weave gives it a charcoal look that I love.
Black, white, and natural threads give SB Noir a classy charcoal appearance.
I really wanted to try a chest pass with SB Noir, so I wrapped my big guy in a double hammock tied at the side (DH TAS). Since we have moved up into a size 5 for this carry, I was barely able to eek it out with a size 4, and I used a ring to finish. As predicted, the chest pass felt great, and the color & pattern on the chest pass made me feel very chic (the red lippie helped too). I have definitely noticed that as SB Noir breaks in more, the chest pass has increased in moldability. This wrap just keeps getting better and better!
DH TAS with a ring finish, and a gorgeous monochrome wrap requires some red lippie.
If you have a chance to try this wrap, I recommend it in any size! A short can do an a amazing Ruck, FWCC, or DH TAS, while a base would be fabulous in any DH variation that requires a longer wrap, or a full FWCC. The dark grey color of SB Noir reminds me of a casual and classy “little black dress” that goes with everything, and its sturdy wrap qualities make it great for even very big kids that like to be up for a long time.
carries tried: Ruck tied in front (TIF), a Ruck variation with twisted straps, Double Hammock tied at side (DH TAS) with and without a ring finish, Front Wrap Cross Carry tied under bum (FWCC TUB), Double Hammock tied under bum (DH TUB)
wrap qualities: sturdy, moderate recoil, supportive, cushy, not diggy, slightly grippy, slightly moldable and becomes more so with regular use, toddler worthy for single pass carries
My first impression was that there is a lot more black and less white than I was expecting…excellent, because I am not careful about keeping wraps clean. I threw it in the wash immediately, and dried it on a low tumble. Fresh out of the wash I noticed how textured it is – lots of micro-texture usually means a good amount of grip. After a wash, the next important question for me is always whether to give it a steam iron or not. I have found that I prefer some wraps ironed (Confetti, Hearts, Futurism), especially to help with breaking in (Trillium, Sparkleberry, Klee), and some I prefer un-ironed to preserve the airy pillows (Wingy, Surf Stripes, Fruit Stripes, P2). It’s important to note that ironing can change the feeling of a wrap completely. Since it wasn’t super wrinkled and felt reasonably un-stiff for a new wrap, I decided to give it a try without an iron to see how I liked it. I put LitterHill up in Wendy’s Double Hammock with a candy cane chest belt and I noticed that Backgammon has that kind of Velcro-stick that makes many Pavos so easy to work with: slippy enough for passes to glide easily over each other, but then sticks in place when you need it to. Delicious.
