Vanamo Wovens Solki Usva Review

Vanamo Solki Usva
55% Merino wool / 45% organic cotton / 231 GSM
1 year and 27 pounds

Liinalapsi - Wearababy wrap shop was founded in 2008 and the owner Niina started making woven wraps under the name Vanamo in 2014. They are based in Finland and the wraps are all lovinglyw made right there. From the Wearababy website, Usva means mist or fog: a light cloud of mist that can sometimes be seen floating over a field early in the morning. I was surprised at how small the package was and how small the wrap folded up for being a wool blend. The bright and saturated purple color contrasts nicely with the white and makes the Solki pattern stand out. The pattern on first look has a very handwoven look and feel. I also noted immediately how soft this wrap is, especially for the high wool content, there is no hint of itchiness here.

Solki Usva is very thin in hand and the weave is airy when you hold it up to the light. The wrap has a very flat feel as you run your hand over, but almost a micro texture is also evident from the weave pattern. Smooth and soapy in hand as well the wrap is also extremely soft and no wool itchiness present. There is a very obvious right side and a wrong side, the wrong side white dominates and more of that micro texture is felt. The diagonal stretch here is medium high, but pulling in other directions the stretch is low.

Vanamo Solki Usva has a classic "old school" woven wrap look and will appeal to those who like a subtle all over pattern where the colors are what stands out and shines. The purple is a clear and bright medium purple and the bright white really compliments it and helps the purple and the pattern stand out, but still not feel dominating.

This wrap is super easy to wrap with. Very thin in hand with lots of drape. Glides beautifully, though some extra care is required to create seats in back carries that do not need further adjustments to maintain. With both double hammock and ruck I needed to be more precise creating my seat, not too loose or overly tight. Since the wrap is so thin and soapy, you just cannot be sloppy for some of the steps. I wore Solki Usva in FWCC, double hammock, and ruck. To have a wool wrap be so thin in hand and light and airy, there will be drawbacks to that and I would recommend this wrap more in a base size and for multilayer carries. In a ruck it can start to feel a bit diggy with heavier babies and toddlers, but that is not unexpected with how thin the wrap is. The thinness translates to more ease with experimentation for bunching or sandwiching passes, you won't have much bulkiness no matter what you do and can adjust a few different ways for comfort and support. 

Because this Solki Usva is easy care and machine washable I recommend it wholeheartedly for newborn and up use, it has the softness for very young babies and will not be overwhelming either as it is so thin and moulds so well. Also measuring the width it's 26", which can work for all size babies, but is especially ideal for smaller babies. For me Solki Usva shines in FWCC and does very well in double hammock, the wool has a good bounce and because of the thinness and airy weave it will do well year round. I wore this on some of the hottest Summer days and it performed very well in the heat, excellent breathability and temperature regulation. If you are wool curious, love thin and soapy wraps this one is for you. If you love grip, want a thicker and more toddler worthy wrap, particularly a shorty for toddlers I would pass on this one. Vanamo has since woven a thicker weave Solki Usva which may be more suitable for toddlers. For a thin and super soft wool wrap though this version of Vanamo Solki Usva cannot be beat.

Thank you so much to Niina at Vanamo for letting me test this lovely wrap and for generously offering it up as a giveaway! The winner from the Instagram and Facebook entries is: askforthesea

Please check out the Vanamo Wovens Chatter group on Facebook here and look for Liinalapsi on Instagram here.

Wauggl Bauggl Zen Purpur Review

Wauggl Bauggl Zen Purpur

62% combed cotton/38% merino wool /335 GSM

1 year and 24 pounds

I was immediately impressed with how soft Zen Purpur felt when it first arrived. Definitely you can tell it's a merino blend, there is a wool feel, but it's just so soft and fluffy! The purple color is even more saturated in person than I was expecting from photos I had seen.

The pattern doesn't add much texture or grip at all, this wrap is rather smooth and felt very flat as I ran my hand over, just a bit of fluffy texture from the merino wool. There was a medium to high amount of stretch as I pulled diagonally.

The bold purple shade works so wonderfully with the stark white and the graphic print of wings creating a lovely contrast, so that the pattern stands out clearly. This is a wonderful Fall to Winter wrap that will fit in with all your cozy clothes and add that extra snuggly feel and warmth for both you and your baby.

I tested this in a size 4 and it was absolutely perfect for a rucksack carry. Zen Purpur is a wider and rather blankety wrap, so you do have a little more work to do with carries, but you get so much support! Because this is a merino wool blend you get those wonderful wool wrapping qualities too. Cushy and bouncy, there is a nice stretch with good recovery that moves with you and your baby. Also with the low texture of this wrap passes move easily into place and tightening the wrap is not difficult at all. For a wrap that is blankety there is a lot of floppiness and pleating is effortless.

Because the wrap is wider and thick some may not love it with really small babies. This is a wrap that I would wholeheartedly recommend for toddlercarrying and in a shorty it really shines. A great quality is that it is very forgiving of sloppy wrap jobs, which are sometimes all you can manage with a toddler. Lovers of easy care wool and cush look no further than this purple beauty.


Thank you Wauggl Bauggl for the opportunity to test!

PinkNova Polaris Mr Grey Review

PinkNova Polaris Mr Grey
53% bio cotton/37% superfine wool/10% cashmere / 288 GSM
1 year and 24 pounds


Mr Grey arrived in a lovely dustbag with a piece of Polaris Zen adorning the bag and a nicely printed brochure. As a tester I don't always get to see those extras, I appreciated them. The colors are soft and light, but the wrap is substantial and has a good weight and density to it. I anticipated Polaris Mr Grey to be both cushy and plush, but strong. The gray is particularly beautiful and cool toned, true to the photos I had seen, but in some lights it looks very blue, which I also love.

The wool in Mr Grey doesn't feel like what I've been conditioned to think wool feels like, there is no itchiness here, but it is definitely still wool feeling, a more luxe wool. I can best describe this blend as feeling velvety, which works quite nicely with the texture of the Polaris pattern. There is Medium-low stretch with great recovery.

The design appealed to me right away, the geometric pattern feels clean and modern, and the more I wore it the more I loved it, especially in carries that show both the "right" and "wrong" sides. For me this design and look that would work especially well in a stash where both mom and dad are wrappers, if I could convince my husband to wrap I know some of my more flowery or whimsical wraps would not appeal to him, but he commented on this wrap many times admiringly.

Mr Grey is rock solid in ruck tied Tibetan with a knotless finish as pictured. I put it thru the paces with FWCC, double hammock, various finishes, but I loved this in a ruck and that says a lot to me, that even for longer carries Mr Grey was amazing in a single pass carry. My first impressions had been that this might not be a newborn to toddler wrap, but after wrapping with it extensively it is, there is a softness here for newborns and though it is a substantial wrap I didn't find it to be terribly bulky or unwieldy. For multi pass carries even though the wrap has a velvety feel, it is also still smooth and passes glide easily and the wrap moulds very nicely. The wrapping qualities for me are amazing, there is the perfect balance of glide and grip to hold things in place. Absolutely no sagging or slipping with Mr Grey, but a wonderful bounce that I didn't expect, this is a wrap that moves with you and your baby or toddler. On my shoulders even in ruck there was a great amount of cush, just a feeling of a comfortable wrap hug, but such strength you can wear for hours and not feel anything aching afterwards.

I continue to be impressed with PinkNova. Mr Grey kind of blew me away. The more I wore this beautiful wrap the more I loved it. I knew it would be a tester favorite since gray is my favorite color, my wrappee's middle name is in fact Gray! This shade of gray is really just gorgeous, soft and cool, but would look great with most any other colors in your wardrobe, and the pattern as well, though bold really goes with a lot. If you are a wool lover this one is for you, superfine wool and cashmere are a higher quality wool than I am used to, so soft and velvety. Bounce and cush are high here in thanks to the wool content. I tested this wrap in Winter which is the perfect time to cozy up to wool, but it's very breathable and could work well in Summer too. There are some extra care issues to be aware of with wool, but Mr Grey is well worth the extra effort. This wrap will perform beautifully in all sizes and while I was partial to testing in my base, Mr Grey will make a fabulous shorty, even for toddlers! The price point is medium high, but the quality of the wrap is high end in my opinion, there is fabulous value for the money here. I recommend Polaris Mr Grey to anyone looking for a luxe wrap with amazing and well balanced wrapping qualities for anywhere from newborn to toddler.

Thank you so much Judith and Ilse at PinkNova for the opportunity to test Polaris Mr Grey!


For more information on PinkNova please visit their website http://pinknova.com/ and also check out there Facebook page here. As well there is a chatter group on Facebook with lots of spam and reviews here.