Tag: #Oscha

The latest Oscha PO has arrived and I’ve been lucky enough to have a little play with Rohan.

I still regularly wrap my one year old and am lucky enough to get my 4 year old up on average once or twice a week – though since this beautiful wrap arrived it has been more frequent, which has been lovely!

As a massive Middle Earth fan I am rather easily excited by Oscha’s Middle Earth range, and this release was no exception.

Wraptrack describes the Rohan design as being based on the descriptions of the tapestries hanging in the halls of Meduseld along with the banner of Rohan and shield of Theoden. Currently there are 23 models in the Rohan pattern.

At the time of writing spares have not yet been released, so there may be a chance to grab one for yourself still, though Oscha do not guarantee spares from preorders.

I have a size 4. It is a cotton, cashwool, tussah blend and 284gsm. I’ve tried both tussah and cashwool in other wraps (reviews of those are coming soon and will be linked). They are some of my favourite yarns, so I was incredibly excited to try this out.

As with all of Oscha’s brand new slings and wraps it comes with it’s own tote bag. This is a luxe wrap so it came in an upgrade tote, which I absolutely love!

First Impressions

Straight out of the bag the wrap felt fairly soft, though there was some stiffness there. The tussah nubs make this wrap almost glitter, and the rainbow warp is bright and happy. The colours shine, with the dark weft really making the pattern pop beautifully against the bright rainbow warp. It is an absolutely stunning wrap and I genuinely can’t decide if I prefer the right or wrong side of it! You definitely get two wraps for the price of one with this one!

I did feel that it was a lot thinner out of the bag than I anticipated, but this changed after its first wash.

Testing

From experience, although Oscha claim their wraps are ready to use out of the bag I have learned to always wash a new wrap, so my loomstate testing of this was very minimal. However, I just couldn’t wait for washing and drying before trying it out!

The first ups were with my rainbow loving 4 year old in a ruck with candycane chestbelt. Despite my very sloppy wrapping the wrap was wonderfully comfortable even in a single layer carry. I was concerned that it may be diggy on my very picky shoulders, but it wasn’t and it held up very well indeed. Although I did find it still to be a little bit stiff. I also loved how pretty the chestbelt is with this carry.

After a wash I was able to really put this wrap through its paces and tried several of my favourite short wrap carries – Shepherds carry with a slipknot, and with a ring finsh and a short front cross carry. I also managed to put my 9 year old up in a ruck and it was still remarkably comfortable! It has rapidly become a favourite wrap that has quickly softened, though I think it will soften more still with use, based on my experience with other wraps with cashwool or tussah.

This wrap has a wonderful amount of grip, but not so much that getting multiple passes into place becomes an issue. It is forgiving of a sloppy wrap job, and doesn’t feel thick or unmanageable in hand. It knots easily, and holds well in a slipknot. One thing to note here is that if using a ring finish I recommend a larger ring!

I even achieved a first with it being the first time my loom to bloom images actually show a marked difference!

I’m not sure that it’s a wrap I would pick for a newborn currently, but fully broken in I may change my mind! However, it is without doubt suitable for older infants and bigger kids alike.

Finally, I felt it deserved to be compared with another Oscha rainbow release and so I did compare it to Oscha’s Sekai Rhodes, which also has a dark weft.

Pros and Cons

Pros: There are a lot of pros for me with this wrap and its wrap qualities – it is a toddler levitator for sure, it is comfortable on the shoulders and gives good support, with a little bounce from the wool. Multiple passes glide into place, but it is grippy enough to be forgiving of a rushed wrap job – something that happens quite frequently here these days!

I love the way that the wrap looks and how soft it is becoming; it really hasn’t taken much to be well on the way to being broken in and I can only imagine how it will feel once fully broken in! My 4 year old rarely asks to go up these days, but she has claimed the rainbow horses as her own and I can totally see why!

Cons: There aren’t many cons for me in this wrap and they are more asthetic than practical, with the exception of feeling it wouldn’t be my first choice of newborn wrap. As is usual with Oscha they come with a huge safety label attached, whilst this can be removed I am rather cautious of doing so, so find that it does detract somewhat from the overall beauty of the wrap! The only other disadvantage to the wrap is that it is handwash only, but this is the nature of the yarns that give the wrap the great wrap qualities it has!

Summary

This wrap is a beautiful wrap for older babies and toddlers that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend if you can pick one up.

Don’t forget that if you are in the market for a new wrap you can pick one up from the Oscha website using my affiliate link.

Oscha are a UK brand, based in Scotland. They also offer a variety of carriers made from some of their woven wrap fabrics.

Oscha Slings tend to release new wraps every 2 weeks, so if you can’t find something that you fall in love with it is likely that there may be something released soon! They are also the home of Middle Earth wraps.

It was the Middle Earth wraps that drew me to Oscha, but on this occasion I couldn’t turn down the chance of playing with the re-released Constellation Cielo.

For a full gallery of images, please click here.

The Basics

Name: Constellaion Cielo

Brand:Oscha

Warp: Deep Sea

Blend: 52% BCI Organic Combed Cotton – 48% Cotton Chenille

GSM: 314 GSM

Size: 5

Price for a size 6: £186

Initial thoughts of Oscha Constellation Cielo

Constellation Cielo comes beautifully packaged in its own tote bag. It’s actually quite nice to have one of the mainline bags as most of the ones I have are Middle Earth ones.

Straight out of the bag I was struck by how soft this wrap was, and may have spent a bit of time just wrapped up in it myself – it would make an amazing wrap throw, or beach blanket, for sure!

I did think it felt thinner than I was expecting for a towel wrap, but I was also comparing it (possibly unfavourably) to my Evenstar Elendil which uses the old chenille. However, upon trying it I was incredibly pleased with how it wrapped!

Loomstate I tried Christina’s Ruckless, which was a new carry for me and found it incredibly comfortable. I also managed to just about tie off a double hammock tied in front, but I don’t think I will have the length to repeat this in future!

Testing

So far I have only tested this with my nearly 2 year old, and every carry we have tried has been incredibly comfortable! Though I do recommend sizing up as the thickness of this wrap does make it feel shorter.

Post wash and iron I was worried that the wrap had lost a lot of its softeness. However, when I actually wrapped with it I found I was wrong. It was just as soft and cushy as it was loomstate!

I do find that Constellation Cielo is a pretty grippy wrap. Whilst I was able to get passes into place pretty easily, I couldn’t always tighten it as much as I can with other wraps. However, beacuse of its cushiness and grippiness it stays put, and most importantly – stays comfortable, even in a single layer carry.

I usually avoid a ruck for any length of time unless using a tussah wrap, but with Cielo it was incredibly comfortable as I hosted my son’s birthday party.

I would also say that despite its gsm it is a great warm weather wrap as it seems to wick away moisture to prevent you overheating and I didn’t find it uncomfortable at all. I can’t wait to try it on the beach and will update this review when I have done so!

Pros and Cons

What I love:

• Soft and cushy wrap
• Would make an amazing beach wrap
• Would make a wonderful throw
• Pattern is clear and looks great
• 4 wraps in one as can be worn either way up, with either side facing out!
• Suitable for littles and bigs unlike the old chenille that I felt was too thick for littles
• Great wrap for any age in any size
• Easy care – this wrap can be easily washed and then dried in the dryer.

What I didn’t love:

• The new instructions leaflet – whilst I don’t need this personally, having to scan to get digital instructions that need zooming in on to see clearly on a phone screen isn’t as practical as the old instructions booklets that you could follow as you wrapped, without needing to move things around on your phone screen.
• If wanting to order a throw the grad is stacked, rather than mirrored – this is common on all Oscha throws, which is a shame as it puts me off the throws.
• The shrinkage – whilst Oscha cut their wraps to accomodate for this and the wrap still measured as a 5 after washing and drying I was surprised by how much it did shrink. Loomstate it was 458cm and post wash it was 426cm.

Summary

In summary, I really love this wrap, though it’s a shame there isn’t a Middle Earth release currently in the new chenille as then it would have been just perfect! I would recommend sizing up if you are buying for a specific carry as the thickness does make it wrap shorter. I can’t wait to try it on the beach!

What is the Bairn?

Oscha’s new style Bairn is a buckle carrier available on a made to order basis. It is recommended as being suitable from newborn (7lbs) to around 2 years (45lbs). It is an apron style carrier with padded shoulder straps. It offers front facing in with cross or ‘h’ style straps, hip carry or back carry positions.

Testing:

I have tested this with my 20 month old and 4 year old. The 20 month old is in age 12-18month clothes and the 4 year old is in 18-24 months and some 2-3.

Front carry with cross straps

Newborn – with the demo doll I had some panel width I could have still adjusted to make it smaller, and I could have moved the waistband higher still for a shorter panel length (or rolled it). Unlike a lot of brands, I believe this could be a good option for new babies.

Child 1 (age 20 months) again, I really liked this and found it incredibly comfortable. There wasn’t a lot of space left on the cinch when I tried it and to be fair, I probably could have let it out completely. Panel height was still great and we both seemed to be comfortable.

Child 2 (aged 4, but tiny!) I was comfortable and the panel height was good on her. However, the width put the panel at mid thigh, which is fine for a walking child, but she did complain about it being a bit diggy! Technically the carrier still fits her. However, it’s not particularly comfortable for her.

Front carry with H or Ruck Straps

With both children I had the same issue here – I couldn’t really get it where it felt secure and comfortable, even with both straps completely done up it felt loose in the wrong places. However, this is an issue I often have with H strap carriers and where a perfect fit adjuster would have been an excellent addition. That said, it is a great option for those who prefer H straps, and being able to cater to both styles means that everyone should be able to find a comfortable option. I also really like the fact the buckle can be removed, so it’s not in the way when using it in the cross strap position, but do wonder how long it’ll be before they’re lost.

Front carry overall assessment

This is a lovely carrier for front carries, it’s comfortable and I think it’s a great option for children fitting into up to around 18month bottoms. Personally I feel the H strap option is less secure, but being quite petite I’ve only ever found one carrier comfortable with H straps, so that’s likely more of a me issue than an carrier issue! I really like the option to have either type of straps in a front carry and know that there will be many for whom the H strap option is preferred.

Back Carry

I didn’t try this with the newborn doll as back carrying isn’t recommended that young. With the girls I found that it was very comfortable on the shoulders with the padded straps and the buckle made for a more comfortable option than some carriers that have a completely separate chest strap. However, again the concept of perfect fit adjusters here would have been lovely to see – maybe there will be a v.3 that includes them? I found that no matter how I played with the straps there was some digging by the ribs. It feels like the padded part is just a little bit too long on a more petite frame to get a comfortable fit.

Overall assessment

This is a lovely carrier that comes in a lots of beautiful patterns and I would recommend it. However, I don’t feel it would be as long lived as Oscha suggest, with the average child being too big for the width of the panel to be comfortable by the time they move into age 18-24 month clothes.

It shines as a front carrier that appears to truly adjust down easily for newborns without any complicated faffing and will grow with your child until they are likely to be walking.

This is available to hire in the library if you would like to try before you buy and if you would like to buy don’t forget I have a discount code for you!