11 To Shop: Woven Blankets and Throws To Wrap Yourself in All 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, Mushroom Patchwork and Nutty Blueberries, 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 equal self-care.) Founder Georgie Brunmayr launched the brand during lockdowns and she sources her wool from Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. Each geometric 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 ($260–$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, striped and chain-link patterned blankets come in striking contrasting colours such as orange, chocolate mousse or deep turquoise.

Hommey

Melbourne-born lifestyle label Hommey has built its name on loud prints and sunny stripes, but lately the brand’s been leaning into more elevated home staples – considered palettes in place of maximalist pattern. Among the newest releases is a line of faux fur blankets, swapping the label’s usual bold designs for pared-back block colours like chocolate, marshmallow and a warm tonal beige.

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.

TBCo

“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 label’s tartan blankets 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. Each design is 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 ($550) is what you’d want to snuggle up with when diving into full hibernation mode. Shipping is free when you spend over $149.

Saarde

The Sydney label Saarde was born from designer Verity Kizek’s years living in Istanbul with her husband, Shenol, and carries a little of that city in every throw. The brand’s plush designs have a luxurious feel crafted from 80 per cent merino wool, and come in burgundy, latte or olive with a soft grey reverse for styling two ways. For something richer, there’s a cashmere-blend option too, woven in dusty clay or deep olive.

Weave Home

There’s a certain confidence that comes from 50 years of dressing New Zealand’s couches, chairs and curtains – and Weave Home, born out of fabric house Warwick in 2017, wears it well. The label’s expertise shows up in Nevis, a uni-coloured throw woven from pure New Zealand lambswool in more than a dozen shades, from juniper green to zesty saffron. Franco takes a softer, more textural route in a 100 per cent linen, with a more vintage lived-in feel.

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 one with Miffy motifs, complete with fringed edges.

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 and flower-printed blankets. Each colourful, cartoon-style design is woven with 80 per cent recycled cotton and 20 per cent polyester, and they’re made in small-batch production cycles.

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 caramel and latte, olive and nori, and oatmeal and chalk (from $249). Each one is 100 per cent Australian wool, which gives it a silky-soft texture. Shipping is free on orders over $200 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.