11 To Try: Woven Blankets and Throws To Wrap Yourself in This Winter

Sling it over your cold shoulders at the beach. Cocoon yourself on the couch. Or drape it artistically over your doona. Wherever it is that you like to feel cosy and comforted, you can add an extra layer of warmth with a well-made blanket.

Luckily, we have a few remaining factories in Australia producing yarn and weaving it into luxury, lightweight throws and durable recycled wool blankets for camping. We’ve picked out some of our favourite locally made woollen wraps, plus a couple of foreign numbers (including cotton and Mongolian cashmere ones).

Curio Practice

With names like Carrot Slaw, Shredded Salad and Berry Ripple, Curio’s 100 per cent merino wool blankets sound like they’d be recommended as part of a healthy diet, and perhaps they should be. (After all, blankets = self-care.) Founder Georgie Brunmayr launched the brand during lockdowns and she sources her wool from Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. Each chequered blanket uses two kilograms of yarn, taking around two hours to knit by machine at a factory in Melbourne. Most blankets are knitted to order, and can be made in baby, queen or king size ($190–$850). “We use fine merino wool not only for its sumptuous warmth and comfort but also its material integrity,” says Brunmayr. “Wool by nature is stain-, odour- and wrinkle-resistant, requiring little maintenance and infrequent washing.” Curio’s checked and chain-link patterned blankets come in striking contrasting colours such as orange, chocolate mousse or mushroom.

Hommey

Melbourne-born lifestyle label Hommey is known for its loud designs and sunny stripes – but in 2025, the brand is shifting towards more elevated home staples. One of its most exciting new releases is a line of luxe blankets made from Australian merino and Peruvian alpaca wool. The brand is trading bold prints for pared-back block colours like merlot, cocoa, natural and olive ($299) – though cobalt and bubblegum options still nod to Hommey’s playful roots.

Cillie

You’d be forgiven for mistaking Cillie’s throws for your favourite sweater. Sydney-based designer Yael Frischling cut her teeth at fashion labels Dion Lee and Nagnata. Now, she uses silky merino and mohair to hand-stitch part-jumper, part-blanket designs. Each playful patchwork style features twisted cables, wavy jacquards and hand-embroidered finishes – details you’d usually find on a piece of clothing. The label’s latest colourways include Cabbage, Poppy and Cedrat (from $500), though only as the main block shade – each design layers a quirky palette of contrasting combinations.

The Glamorous Goat

Specialising in ultra-soft throws, scarves and socks, this family-run label sources kid mohair from its own farms in South Africa, where the founders’ relatives have raised Angora goats for over 200 years. During production, founders Hayley and Steven Hobson blend the mohair with merino wool for a finish that’s silky, warm and feather-light. Like the rest of the collection, the tonal checkered Pembroke throw ($327) is designed to last decades and comes shipped from the family’s home in New Zealand.

Slowdown Studio

LA-based Australian designer Marc Hendrick launched Slowdown Studio in 2015, starting with tapestry-style woven cotton blankets. Each one is created in collaboration with artists, including illustrators Eija Vehviläinen from Finland and London-based Marnie Cox. The blankets are spun and woven in North Carolina with locally grown cotton. You can order directly or via Australian stockists such as Hands in Sydney, and Pinky’s in Melbourne. Each blanket comes with a postcard of the artwork you’ve selected, such as these abstract flowerpot design by Sydney-based Swedish illustrator Micke Lindebergh. The throws are large enough to toss over your sofa, bed or backyard chair. Some customers hang them as wall art. Each piece is fringed and usually has a contrasting underside pattern. Hands offers free shipping on orders over $120, while Pinky’s has a flat-rate delivery fee of $9.95.

The Tartan Blanket Co

“Like a hug made of wool,” Edinburgh’s Tartan Blanket Co says of its super-soft lamb’s wool and cashmere blankets, designed in Scotland and woven in Mongolia. The tartan blankets ($37–$1100) are naturally insulating, breathable and hypoallergenic. They come in blush pink check, lilac gingham, cinnamon tartan, and other striped and block styles, including berry, olive, slate and denim. The company also sells recycled wool blankets with a more durable feel, sourced from preloved wool woven in India. The teal gingham blanket ($209), for example, is 70 per cent recycled wool and 30 per cent mixed recycled fibres. They’re hardy enough to withstand a machine wash and have a soft, brushed texture with decorative fringing on opposite sides. Get free shipping to Australia when you spend over $295, or find the blankets at Pinky’s and Merino & Me.

Waverley Mills

Launceston is home to Australia’s only mill capable of both processing and weaving wool. Also the country’s oldest working textile mill, Waverley Mills has been producing yarn since 1874. Blankets take four to five weeks to make, using bales of wool transported from New South Wales and around Tasmania. There are luxury merino and alpaca blankets, plus a recycled range – the mill has salvaged some 60 tonnes of discarded yarn, from which it makes blankets finished with whipstitch edges. This black and beige check rug ($499) is what you’d want to snuggle up with when diving into full hibernation mode. Shipping is free when you spend over $149.

Maison Deux

Dutch label Maison Deux is full of whimsical designs. Designer Pia Weinberg leans into bold, graphic motifs – like the Kobalt Swirl throw, available locally at Designstuff. It’s jacquard-woven from 100 per cent New Zealand wool, with crisp cobalt and white spirals that mirror on the reverse. The Memo also stocks select styles from the brand – including two colourways of the Candy throw: icy blue with navy, or pink with cherry stripes. Each blanket is finished with classic fringe edges and adds a cosy layer wherever you land.

Cold Picnic

Partners Phoebe Sung and Peter Buer design blankets, bath mats, rugs and other homewares from a studio in Brooklyn, New York. The couple works with a family-owned company in New Jersey to knit all its animal-printed blankets, which feature long, outstretched and abstract “skins” in zebra, cow, crocodile and leopard patterns. (It’s not as gruesome as it sounds.) Each colourful, cartoon-style blanket is woven with 80 per cent recycled cotton and 20 per cent polyester, and is available in two sizes (US$130–$220). They’re made in small-batch production, and the limited range includes quilted blankets too (US $282), which kinda look like they’re posing for a school photo. Shipping starts from US $40.

Stansborough

From farm to loom, every Stansborough blanket is made entirely in New Zealand using wool from the family’s rare grey sheep. The naturally soft-toned fibre is woven on century-old looms at a historic Wellington mill, producing heirloom-quality throws in muted greys or overdyed shades like Riviera blue and mustard. The result is soft, breathable blankets with sculptural drape – equally suited to layering on the bed or wrapping around your shoulders. The mill’s craftsmanship also earned it a spot in Middle-earth – its wool was used in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

L&M Home

Fitzroy interiors company L&M (formerly Linen & Moore) sells a range of cashmere mix throws in rich, warm colour combinations like fern and sage, earth and bone, and oatmeal and chalk (from $240). Each one is 90 per cent Australian wool, 10 per cent cashmere, which gives it a silky-soft texture. Shipping is free on orders over $150 Australia-wide.

Additional reporting by Julia Baker, Emma Do and Miriam Kauppi. This article was originally published on July 20, 2021 and it has since been updated with new brands, products and pricing.