I love Isle Mill's blankets. They're beautifully made, they last, and Isle Mill is a lovely business to work with. It's still family-run, based up in Perthshire, and it's deeply rooted in Scotland's long tradition of weaving.
Over 240 years of Scottish weaving
Isle Mill is part of the Macnaughton Group, a family company founded in 1783. It began in Dumfriesshire with just four looms and a handful of local workers, in premises that were once a fortified tower. That tower still appears on the company's logo. For nearly two centuries the family wove traditional tweeds and tie cloths, before moving into tartans and throws in the 1970s.
Woven in the Highlands
Today, Isle Mill's fabrics are woven at its mill in Keith, in the Highlands, beside the burn that feeds one of Scotland's best-known whisky distilleries. A small team of around 20 skilled technicians works there, and some of the cloth is dyed and finished in the Scottish Borders.
Scottish wool blankets made to last
Isle Mill makes my best-selling Highland Cow and Stag blankets, along with the Balintyre, Milton, Fortriu, and Maree designs. They're soft, warm and properly made, the kind of blanket that gets passed down rather than thrown out.