Electronic Highways
Tying one on
There is one thing that many of us cannot survive the winter months without: a scarf. Traditionally made of wool—which, being a natural fiber, allows the skin to breathe and keeps out the cold—the knit scarf is a staple in cold-weather climates like Buffalo’s.
As usual, the Web has much to tell us about scarves (or mufflers as they are called in some areas of the world), knitting and their history. There are even a number of Web sites dedicated to the famously long scarf worn by Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor Who (from the British science fiction television program of the same name), including The Doctor Who Scarf and Who Knits.
As many will know from the Harry Potter movies, students in the United Kingdom traditionally wear academic scarves with distinctive combinations of striped colors identifying their school. A College Miscellany and Wikipedia illustrate the phenomenon, showing the various scarf patterns associated with a number of universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. According to Dress Like Me, the knit scarf was invented by the Third Duke of Krakow in 1783. Woven scarves, however, were in use at least as early as the Roman times.
Knitting scarves became a patriotic duty in the U.S. during World Wars I and II, when knitting to help the war effort and keep American soldiers warm was a major preoccupation. The tradition of knitting for others is still alive, cultivated by Knit Your Bit, a program sponsored by the National WWar II Museum, and other charity knitting projects like the Red Scarf Project.
Katherine Villacis provides styling tips and instructions on her site, How to Wear a Scarf, as well as briefly summarizing the history of the scarf.
If you’d like to knit your own scarf, there are plenty of wonderful patterns available online. Check out Knitty, an online knitting magazine, and Knitting Pattern Central. Serious knitters will want to join Ravelry, a new online community site for knitters and crocheters. Learning to knit has never been easier, now that there are such a plethora of tutorials online. A great place to start is Knitting Help, which features lots of free videos.
No matter how you wear your winter scarf, bundle up. It’s cold out there.
—Karen Morse, University Libraries
Reader Comments