This blanket features the binakol or binakul textile design, commonly woven in Abra and Ilocos. Binakol can mean “made spherical” (Pastor-Roces, 1991, p. 77) or “twill,” describing the shape and appearance of the motif or design, but it can also refer to a type of Ilocano inabel textile. Although binakol textiles are created using the plain weave technique, they stand out among plain woven textiles due to the intricate techniques employed and the distinctiveness of the resulting fabric itself. Weaving the binakol requires specific methods using two-colored weft yarns that are typically black and white, green and white, blue and white and sometimes red and white (Respicio, 2014).

The geometric patterns created have an illusory effect and are often seen as psychedelic optical illusions. These designs are intentionally woven to confuse, repel, and distract evil spirits (Salvador-Amores, 2019).

The specific design of this textile from the collection features multiple whirlpool or whirlwind motifs, locally known as kusikus or alipugpug, bordered by hand-woven red bands. Like other Abra blankets, this Binakol blanket consists of panels of woven textiles joined by a traditional stylized stitching method in green and white. The stitching motif used on this blanket is called kuko-palay (fingernails and rice stalks) joinery, also known as sinan-ramay (finger-like) or kuko-ramay (hands and fingernails) joinery.