Warm snuggly throws and bedcovers, originally made from sheep’s wool and pre-commercialisation, handmade in many traditional communities . Traditional blankets are very often woven in distinctive styles, and their origins can be traced back to an area and a people by their pattern, colour, size and texture.
Until world domination of the practical and easy-to-manage duvet, woven blankets were the universal bed cover. Providing warmth and neat bed making, blankets are woven in many weights of fibre and designs to suit any bed and season. Wool, cotton, silk, mohair, cashmere, and blends are woven in multitudes of colours, patterns, stripes, textures and weights.
Blankets are woven on wide width plain weave, knitting or Jacquard looms, the material is shrunk and the pile is almost always brushed in the milling and finishing processes to render it soft to the touch–thick and fluffy.
We all love blankets, and they are making a big come back, though now less on the bed and rather as extra throws, fluffy comforters to wrap up in in front of the TV or when reading and as picnic rugs and wrappers for outdoor living, especially late evenings in the garden, in the countryside or at the beach. Last but by no means least, they may be used for simple curtaining, successfully cut up and made into sofa and chair covers; and as easy tuck-in loose cover substitutes – easy to wash and drape over just to change a mood, disguise an ugly cover, to hide wear and tear, or to protect from the everyday grime from/of gardening trousers, children and dogs.