Weft Name: Firecrest
Warp Name: Mercury
Design Name: Microscom
GSM: 345gsm
Weave Structure: Alchemy
Average Width: 
Blend:  50% combed cotton 50% wool
Related Wraps: The wool weft is the same yarn as used in Greystoke Glasto Birch Trees and Calluna Callisto/Calluna Moorland Birch Trees. It is also the same wool as Tarn Moorland Starmap, but that wrap feels different as it is woven using the Elements weave, whereas Firecrest and the others are Alchemy weave
Wrapping Qualities: Cushioning and supportive, forgiving of an imprecise wrap job. Thick and squashy, quite grippy and textured.
Care Requirements: As an 100% wool weft, these wraps need to be washed on a wool cycle in your washing machine. This wrap needs to be washed several times from new, in order to get the natural processing oils out of the wool and make it feel fully soft and fluffy. If you choose to handwash your wrap then it may need more washes, as handwashing isn’t as effective as a machine. Most UK and European washing machines have a perfectly safe wool cycle, but we hear that US machines are more of an unknown quantity. You need to use a wool safe detergent, and the wrap doesn’t need to be dried in between those initial washes.
For drying, you can hang over a maiden or peg the wrap on the line until dry, then iron on a low, wool setting.
Notes:
Release Date: 21st October 2019
Label Identification Code: MER003
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I have been wrapping for six years, and my children are now four and six. Firespiral has been my favorite brand of slings for years, and my wrap collection is primarily Firespiral and also predominantly wool. I was delighted to have the opportunity to test the new Firecrest Mercury Microcosm. It is a heavyweight 50% wool, alchemy weave wrap. It has a hefty GSM of 347 by my calculations compared to Greystroke Glasto Birch Trees that was just over 300. That said, I do not notice a difference in thickness or moldability between the two wraps that couldn’t be attributed to the fact Firecrest is not yet broken in. Firecrest also uses the same wool yarn found in Greystroke and Calluna, two other 50% woolies. I do not find it prickly or scratchy, but it does have a woolie feel.Firescrest is heavy and blankety in hand. It is one of the cushiest wraps you will ever touch. You can feel the sponginess when you squeeze it between your fingers. I do not find it unmanageably grippy, but it is certainly tipped in the grip direction on a grip to glide scale. These characteristics may steer a new babywearer away because it seems challenging, but the counterpoint to that is this wrap is comfortable even when tightened in a less than precise manner, which is certainly a draw if you are new, in a hurry or wrapping in a crisis situation such as the big feelings that come with a toddler! An experienced babywearer could use this with any age wrapee, but it would be perfectly suited to bigger babies through preschoolers. If you are new to heavyweight, thick wraps a base-2 would be perfect for an incredibly comfortable ruck, front wrap cross carry tied under bum, or other single layer carries. I live in a northern latitude and have big kids, and say the longer the better! The colors remind me of Autumn, a shiny warm gray and a rusty orange/brown. The contrast is stunning and unique. The pattern is inspired by magnified tree bark cells. This is their first full release of this pattern. I love how it looks different every time you wrap with it, and you don’t have to be careful which side is up or out when wrapping. I strongly believe that every Firespiral fan needs to try a heavyweight, 50% wool, alchemy weave woolie before their babywearing days are over. Unprecedented comfort, the blankety feel, the wrapping qualities, I find them so special!

Review from Jessica Malady, one of our US based wrap testers