4 Best Blankets for Winter
The Four Fibers of Winter: Our Best Blankets for the Cold Season
As winter settles in with its sharp winds and early sunsets, we naturally reach for the pieces that bring warmth, comfort, and a sense of calm at home. This is the season when our spaces become shaped by the essentials that make cold days feel inviting. At the top of that list is a truly timeless winter companion: a luxurious handwoven blanket.
At Nantucket Looms, we weave with four exceptional fibers — alpaca, cashmere, cotton, and mohair — each offering their own comfort and distinct character. Some are exceptionally warm, others beautifully breathable; some have a refined drape, others a plush, enveloping feel. No matter your preference, there is a fiber — and a blanket — perfectly suited to how you live. Every one of our blankets is woven by hand in our Nantucket studio and sized at 4' x 7', making them versatile for the bed, the sofa, or your favorite reading chair.
To help you choose the right piece for the season, we're sharing our four best blankets for winter — highlighting how each one feels, how it's designed, and how it can be styled throughout your home.
1. Coastline Handwoven Alpaca Throw
Alpaca is one of our most versatile natural fibers — naturally weighted, exceptionally soft, and beautifully adaptive to temperature shifts throughout the year. Its tiny natural air pockets trap heat in cold weather and release warmth in milder temperatures, creating a blanket that feels grounding and warm without overheating. This structure gives alpaca its remarkable year-round comfort, making it a favorite well beyond winter.
Our Head Weaver, Rebecca Peraner, often refers to alpaca as "our version of the weighted blanket," a reflection of the comfort that comes from its inherent density and softness.
The Coastline Handwoven Alpaca Throw consolidates the properties of this natural fiber through a palette inspired by the shifting hues of sea and sky. A gentle blend of light sky blues and misty grays gives the throw its serene character, while its soft texture and delicate hand-tied fringe highlight the craftsmanship that can only be found at our Main Street studio. Handwoven from start to finish, this throw embodies the thoughtful color selection and meticulous loom preparation that define our alpaca collection.
Its natural weight gives it a beautiful drape, adding both visual interest and softness to any space. With hypoallergenic properties and a breathable warmth, it's a perfect companion for chilly winter mornings and cool summer evenings.
Why we love it:
- A naturally weighted feel
- Hypoallergenic properties
- Elegant drape
2. Surf Spray Handwoven Mohair Throw
Affectionately known as "the fluffy one," mohair is one of our most expressive natural fibers — lightweight, ultrawarm, and known for its dramatic high-pile composition and open weave structure. It holds saturated dyes beautifully and reveals a nearly translucent quality when held to the light, making it ideal for those who prefer dynamic colorways.
A signature of Nantucket Looms since 1968, our mohair throws feature a variety of colors and patterns making them our most vibrant throws. The details of accents, ribbons, and contrasting colors add depth and character without overwhelming the softness of the fiber.
The Surf Spray Handwoven Mohair Throw is a blanket that channels this detail, bringing coastal tranquility to any space with its harmonious palette of light blue tones and glimmering silver ribbons. Traditional weaving techniques and hand-knotted fringe add an artisanal dimension, highlighting both the fiber's natural beauty and the skill of our studio weavers.
Why we love it:
- Dramatic high pile
- Warm yet airy layer for all seasons
- Wide variety of colors and patterns
- Our best-selling wedding gift since 1968
3. Fog Gray Handwoven Cotton Throw
Cotton is our most adaptable natural fiber — breathable, soft, and beautifully suited to a wide range of climates. For those who prefer a blanket that can be enjoyed even during the summer months, cotton offers an ideal balance of comfort and practicality. Woven from premium North Carolina cotton, our throws provide a lighter source of warmth whether you're curled up by the fire or relaxing under the AC on a warmer day.
Cotton also gives our weavers the greatest freedom to explore pattern and structure. From subtle stripes to more whimsical bandings, our cotton throws showcase the creativity and technical skills of our weavers.
The Fog Gray Handwoven Cotton Throw is an example of a classic colorway. Inspired by the island's misty mornings, the Fog Gray Handwoven Cotton Throw is a study in subtlety thanks to the gentle interplay of white and gray tones within the weave. Its neutral tone makes it endlessly versatile, able to suit a wide range of interiors during the winter season and beyond.
Why we love it:
- Ideal for warmer climates
- Best for those sensitive to animal based fibers
- Perfect housewarming gift
4. Hydrangea Blue Handwoven Cashmere Throw
Cashmere is our most luxurious fiber — exceptionally soft, remarkably warm, and naturally lightweight. Made from the fine undercoat of the cashmere goat, our cashmere throws are the ultimate in luxury and comfort. Cashmere is eight times warmer than sheep's wool, making it ideal for those who prefer a lighter layering effect without sacrificing warmth. Our cashmere throws are fully saturated in rich, lasting color, with subtle tonal variations and understated pattern emerging through a refined chevron weave. Our weavers take a restrained, intentional approach with cashmere, allowing deeper hues and subtle shifts in tone to create dimension.
The Hydrangea Blue Handwoven Cashmere Throw brings an uplifting spirit to this winter collection. Its soft blue hue mirrors the iconic hydrangeas that begin to color Nantucket as the island shifts toward warmer months — those striking blooms that signal longer days and brighter light. Even in the heart of winter, this shade carries a sense of understated optimism. Featuring the iconic chevron pattern found in many of our cashmere throws, this piece showcases how such a weave can blend these tonal blues into a smooth, cohesive field that still feels dynamic.
As the final blanket in this roundup, it feels like a bridge — warm enough for winter, yet naturally reminiscent of beach days and the scent of flowers and seasalt in the breeze.
Why we love it:
- Our favorite reminder of Nantucket
- Warmth without weight
- Exceptional softness
- The ultimate gift to commemorate milestone occasions
Winter invites a quieter rhythm — an inward turn toward texture, tone, and the comforts that lend a sense of refuge to the home. Each blanket in this collection offers its own expression of that sensibility: the grounding weight of alpaca, the luminous warmth of mohair, the breathable ease of cotton, and the refined softness of cashmere.
In the months ahead — whether in unhurried evenings, softened mornings, or the first subtle shift toward spring — there is a piece here to suit the moment. Handwoven in our island studio 30 miles out to sea, every blanket reflects the intention of the weaver and the enduring character of its fiber, crafted to offer comfort now and for seasons to come.
