Of neck-warmers, neck-gaiters, snoods and possibly wimples

Neck warmers are definitely 'in' this winter, although I don't suppose they have ever been 'out'. This said, I've not been aware of them in their current form before. But I now have one. 

What is a neck warmer? It's a short tube of fabric, woven or knitted, woollen or man-made fibre, that fits loosely around one's neck, to keep it warm more efficiently than a scarf will. And unlike a scarf, there is nothing that hangs down your front, to get tangled with your bag strap, or indeed your camera strap, or (if you walk in the country) will catch on thorn bushes or barbed-wire fences. It's a neater garment entirely, and doesn't require constant adjustment. 

I arrived at my cousin Rosemary's yesterday, and she immediately showed me one that her local friend Anne had knitted for her. This Anne has been making them for Christmas. Rosemary too is now making them. She urged me to try hers on, to see if I liked it. I did, and was surprised to find that I liked it very much, particularly as it was in various shades of grey, and went with my coat perfectly. Actually, it would go with nearly all my coats and jackets. 

Rosemary said she had plenty of wool, and could knit me one in a bright colour very quickly. I thanked her, but said I'd rather have a grey one like the one I still had on. Whereupon she said, 'Have that then.' 'Really? Are you sure?' 'Absolutely. I've made another for myself, a blue one, and can easily make more.' 'OK, I'll gladly accept this one, and thank you very much indeed!'  

Thus it was that we set off for Canterbury in Fiona, both wearing a neck-warmer. Here I am, after lunch, outside the Fenwick department store loo, taking two shots in a big mirror to show what my grey neck-warmer looks like:

And here's a shot of Rosemary wearing hers, when later on we had tea and cake at our favourite place in Canterbury, Tiny Tim's Tea Room. This picture gives you a somewhat better idea of what the thing looks like:

It hangs around your neck in a series of folds, and it's perfectly possible to pull it up at the back and bring it over you head, to form a kind of hood, so that your ears are protected and well as your neck. It's rather more stylish than a balaclava helmet would be.

You can buy these neck-warmers ready-made in outdoor shops, especially just now, or you can knit them at home. Rosemary has texted me the knitting instructions, which go as follows (in her words):

Neck warmer

About 100 gms chunky yarn.

(You can use double knit putting two strands together. )

Using 6mm or 6.5ml needles depending on tension cast on 77 stitches. Do 4 rows in garter stitch then change to stocking stitch until knitting measures 11.5 inches. Do 4 more rows garter stitch then cast off. Sew sides together to make a tube. Job done - simple. 

I imagine most women can turn out a home-made version in a jiffy. I can't, never having acquired much in the way of domestic skills. Kirche, Küche und Kinder were never my thing.  

The neck warmer Rosemary gave me carried a whiff of perfume - pleasant, but I prefer no fragrance at all - and so I've given it a quick hand-wash and it will soon be dry and ready to wear again. And none too soon - it's perishing cold outside! 

These things go under other names. I've seen neck-gaiter, which sounds odd to me. And they are also called snoods, although I thought that a snood was a longish loop of fabric, very much like a scarf with the ends joined together, Or at least that was what the snood I bought at Debenhams in Taunton on 7th November 2011 looked like. It was a very chilly day, and I hadn't brought a scarf along, so I was very glad to buy a snood instead. It cost £20, which is about £28 in 2022 money. This is what it looked like. These shots were taken five days later at Tyntesfield and Clevedon Pier:

As you can see, it was voluminous! Because of that, and because beige wasn't an exciting colour, I reverted to ordinary scarves after a while, if I wore a scarf at all. Somehow a scarf seemed easier to wear, despite its length and the way scarves flap about in the wind. I think my new neck-warmer will be easier still, with that hood capability as an extra.

It strikes me as funny that the word 'snood' - which sounds so medieval - should still have currency, especially when it might be made of a high-tech material nowadays. I await the revival of the wimple!

Finally, I can't resist revisiting my 2021 write-up of one of the accessories that came with my previous Leica camera, the X-U. See my post The X-U - part 2 on 28th August 2021. This was a bright blue neoprene tube, with drawstrings at each end, plus toggles. It was meant to be a multi-purpose thing.  It could obviously be drawn over the camera, to protect it from dust or smoke, or to hide the fact that I was carrying a Leica around:  

And I also (rather facetiously) suggested that it could be used to fend off strong sunshine, or chill winds, by being worn around the neck:

But I'm not so sure now that this was as ludicrous as I thought. Maybe the neoprene tube was meant to be a neck-warmer, among its many other possible uses. Even so, surely not as cosy as the one I have now.