Tag: wearallthebabies

Eagle Ray Wovens Rings of Laughter

Introduction

ERW RoL Closeup

This is my first handwoven review y’all! I was really hesitant to try handwovens (HWs), because the stats and wrap qualities (WQs) can vary so much by weaver, weave, fiber, etc., making them unpredictable, and I really have a pretty good system for picking machine woven wraps that will work for me. Eventually, curiosity got to me, so I decided to try a handwoven wrap and I haven’t looked back – they definitely do vary in WQs but I have yet to try one that isn’t amazing in some special way. I like to imagine that this is due to the love and care that is put into a handweaving a beautiful textile the is designed for snuggling babies!

Eagle Ray Wovens is one weaver, Jenn Alexander, and has been around for only a short time (since June 2014 according to their Facebook page). Rings of Laughter is a sister piece to her International Babywearing Conference (IBC) 2016 Great Competition of Weavers entry. The entry piece, called Rings of Life, which differs from Rings of Laughter only in color and warp fiber, “received a perfect score on fabric quality, placing 7th as judged by the in person panel.” That is a pretty incredible feat, especially with many, more-experienced weavers in the competition. I assure you that from my experience with Rings of Laughter, her praise is well-deserved!

When I opened the package containing Rings of Laughter, I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the hand-dyed ombre tails. The Rings of Laughter ombre goes from light teal to medium teal to indigo teal. I have read that the tails in all of the sister pieces were dyed as one continuous thread so that the gradation would be extremely smooth – mission accomplished!

ERW RoL ombre tail
The gorgeous ombre tail on Rings of Laughter features a super smooth gradation that is a result of hand dyeing as one continuous thread.

The warp on Rings of Laughter (and all sister pieces) is 8/2 Egyptian cotton, and is also hand dyed in variegated shades of cool brown. Each piece of the warp was named uniquely, with names inspired by the “duality of extremes [in parenthood] where your heart is ready to burst with love for you child and at the next millisecond you want to run far away, or at least hide in the closet and each chocolate without wondering what that thud was.” They are: Rings of Light (orange-red), Rings of Luck (emerald greens), Rings of Love (reds), Rings of Life (forest greens), Rings of Loyalty (chocolate browns), and Rings of Levity (blues). Rings of Laughter and all of the sisters have 8/2 cotton/hemp wefts, except Rings of Life, which is 16/2 cottolin. I am sharing so many details about the creation of this warp and this wrap because of the immense amount of significance it seems to hold to the weaver, Jenn. So much thought (and love!) was put into these wraps – a hand dyed warp, hand dyed, continuous thread ombre wefts of several different colors that speak to their names, and the gravity of the inspiration: the dichotomy that is a parenting experience most (all?) of us can relate to. It is so special to me that a gorgeous and meaningful piece of art like Rings of Laughter can be loved and cuddled by us!

Rings of Laughter makes a squishy candy cane chest belt and the ombre knot is epic.
Rings of Laughter makes a squishy candy cane chest belt and the ombre knot is epic.

I am still dipping my toe into the world of handwoven wraps, but the weave on Rings of Laughter is something I have not seen anywhere else. Jenn calls it a “complex Sharkskin weave” and the zig-zag pattern really does remind me of a sharkskin. The result of this intricate weave is a double-faced wrap, with one smoother side and one textured side. The two different textures were definitely noticeable in the WQs – from the first wrap, the passes glide and stick exactly right. This wrap is easy to adjust, and patiently waits for me to fumble around while I am tightening, without sliding out of place.

EWR RoL double face
The two different faces of the Sharkskin weave on Rings of Laughter.

In my experience, handwoven wraps have some sort of magic to them that allows them to feel thin in hand (a wrap quality I usually don’t enjoy) while still being able to offer sturdy, airy support (a wrap quality I enjoy immensely). Rings of Laughter embodies these traits – it is very easy to handle and it feels slightly cool in hand (a quality some people call “soapy”). The thinness in hand is bewildering, because the candy cane chest belt (CCCB) is quite thick and the wrap feels cushy on my shoulders, even with 30 pounds of LittlerHill bouncing along as we walk! Rings of laughter has some degree of stretch, and I definitely noticed it while walking with my big guy in a Wendy’s Double Hammock (Wendy’s DH), but it was not so stretchy that I had to stop and retighten my carry. Rings of Laughter is solid and supportive enough to wear a big toddler for hours.

Rings of Laughter in Wendy's Double Hammock with a candy cane chest belt (Wendy's DH CCCB).
Rings of Laughter in Wendy’s Double Hammock with a candy cane chest belt (Wendy’s DH CCCB).

We have used this wrap on some of the warmest days of the year in NYC, but the thinness and awesome support were great for keeping us from becoming a sweaty mess, even with multiple layers around us in a front cross carry (FCC). I have found that many machine woven hemp blends (that I love!) do not perform very well in the heat, but even though it has a cotton/hemp weft, Rings of Laughter is very cool and comfortable on a hot day.

Jenn at Eagle Ray Wovens is clearly a very talented artist, and her work speaks to me on many levels. She seems to make thoughtful, inspired, beautiful, and technically advanced textiles, and I am super excited to see what she comes up with in the future!

THE STATS

weaver: Jenn Alexander of Eagle Ray Wovens

size: 5 m

width: 27 in (as listed by ERW)

soft tape in hand: 5.37 m (after wear)

weight: 335 gsm (as listed by ERW)

blend: variegated cool brown hand dyed 8/2 Egyptian cotton warp, with hand dyed, light teal-medium teal-indigo teal ombre accented tails 8/2 cotton/hemp weft

extra: unhemmed selvages and a coordinating tactile middle marker on both rails

wrappee: 30+ lbs of toddler

carries tried: Wendy’s Double Hammock with candy cane chest belt (Wendy’s DH CCCB), front cross carry (FCC)

wrap qualities: a balance of both grippy and glidey due to the double faced textures of the weave, supportive, cushy, moldable, bouncey, airy, cool to the touch, thin in hand but thick overall, solid, moderately stretchy, good recoil, toddler worthy for single or multi pass carries, squish worthy

Emmeline Textiles Sorbet

Introduction

Emmeline Textiles in-house dyed Partita no. 6, Sorbet.
Emmeline Textiles in-house dyed Partita no. 6, Sorbet.

I have been a fan of Emmeline Textiles since I first laid eyes on their dyed wraps in a babywearing Facebook group. I rarely see dyed wraps that catch my attention, but wraps that are dyed by Ali at ET are like no others – the dye jobs are vibrant, the colors are beautifully complementary, and they look absolutely flawless! The first dyed ET wraps I saw were Eleanore Pearls in some blue and blue-green grads – I will (hopefully) review and ET EP in the future. One great thing that I love about ET is that they weave so many undyed wraps! Each ET wrap that is dyed in-house is unique, so it has not been easy to get my hands on one…until now!

I received Sorbet, that is a pink to orange color gradation on a Partita no. 6 that was dyed in-house by the fabulous Ali at Emmeline Textiles. It is actually a size 3, not a size 4 as was listed on their website (they alerted me to the true size), but that was cool with me because I am basically doing the same carries with both sizes at this point – my toddler is huge! My first impression when I took it out of the box was that it glows, even in my dark apartment at night. I could tell that this dyed wrap was going to be special.

Emmeline Textiles Sorbet arrive in this very cute packaging. Even at night, the colors were striking.
Emmeline Textiles Sorbet arrive in this very cute packaging. Even at night, the colors were striking.

Since in-house dyed wraps from ET come washed and ready to wear, we tried our first ups as soon as possible! Size 3 is Base-3 for us, so we first tried Kangaroo carry to have some milk on the way to dinner. The moldability impressed me right away especially before it’s been broken in, and Sorbet was super supportive with my giant guy, even in a single pass carry. Believe me when I say that that is quite a feat! We tied a double knot in the tiptails, and Partita no. 6 was up to the task – there was no slipping, and the whole carry was super solid.

Super supportive in a single layer carry.
Sorbet was very supportive in a single layer carry for some milk before dinner.

Sorbet must have been super comfortable for LittlerHill too, because the next morning he did not want to go in any other wrap for our walk to preschool! When I reached for a longer monochrome wrap, he said “Not THAT one! I want the ORANGE one!” and so it went…I have been hiding Sorbet from him in order to use any of my other wraps ever since!!

We did Shepherd's carry for our walk to preschool. This is the first time LittlerHill has ever demanded a specific wrap!
The first time LittlerHill has ever demanded a specific wrap, it was Sorbet!

We tried a Shepherd’s carry, which hasn’t previously been one of my favorite carries, but I want to learn to love it and this wrap was up to the task. The two-passes  were super comfy and supportive with my big guy, and he seemed to really be able to relax and chill out on my back while we walked to preschool. Partita no. 6 is a modified herringbone pattern that gives the wrap the perfect amount of an even microtexture to allow the passes to slide and then stick right in place so it was almost like Sorbet wrapped itself in this carry.

This pink-to-orange gradation glows even indoors at night!
This pink-to-orange gradation glows in indoor NYC-apartment lighting!

Lastly, I tried a simple ruck tied in front (Ruck TIF) for a trip into the NYC subway, and – I kid you not – with just a single knot the carry felt very secure (*safety disclaimer: you should always tie a double knot to finish any carry with a woven wrap*). LittlerHill was in one of his bouncier moods, which usually requires a longer wrap tied with two leg passes, as in Wendy’s Double Hammock, but Sorbet in a ruck did better than I would have expected! My wrap job stayed very solid through the bouncing, wiggling, leaning, stairs, stairs, more stairs, and even a short wrapee-standing-up-while-wrapped episode when I took a seat on the C train (ahh…toddler wearing in the city, at its best). Every time I wrap with Sorbet I like it even more.

Sorbet's single knot looked delicious and didn't budge.
Sorbet’s single knot looked delicious and didn’t feel like it would budge.

The sturdy softness (and arriving ready to wear) combined with a superb one-of-a-kind dye job have made Sorbet one of my favorite wraps already! I can’t wait to try more from Emmeline Textiles, and I hope that a few more of Ali’s dyed wraps will make their way to us for a visit.

Ruck for the subway - a single pass carry with a huge toddler, and brilliant colors for fall.
Ruck for the subway – a single pass carry with a huge toddler, and brilliant colors for fall.

The stats

weaver: Emmeline Textiles

line: Partita no. 6 (dyed Sorbet – a pink to orange grad)

size: 3 (3.2-3.3 m from ET website)

width: 63 cm (25 in)

soft tape in hand: 3.42 m

blend: 100% cotton

wrappee: 30+ lbs of toddler

carries tried: Ruck tied in front (Ruck TIF), Kangaroo, Shepherd’s carry

wrap qualities: new wrapper friendly, medium thickness, medium density, good recoil, supportive, cushy, not diggy, moderately grippy, bouncey, very moldable, toddler worthy for single pass carries, ace bandagey, solid, microtextured, probably squish worthy once broken in, pleats itself, passes glide easily enough for multipass carries