Kids Cashmere Knitted Scarf

You loop it twice around a small neck at the school gate and the ends still tuck into a coat pocket.

Seven in the morning, the car has not warmed up yet, and the coat collar is not closing the gap under the chin. The scarf comes off the hook by the door, goes around twice, and the gap closes. It weighs close to nothing in your hand, which is the part most parents notice first.

The knit runs even and flat along the whole 130 cm, with a short ribbed band at each tip that keeps the ends from curling in on themselves. At 20 cm across it folds down small enough to sit in a backpack pocket all day and come back out at pick up. The maker offers it in seventeen solid shades, from raw cashmere rice and camel through wine red, turmeric, taro purple and emerald.

Key Benefits

• 100% cashmere, named at source The maker states 100% cashmere and gives Albas, an Inner Mongolian cashmere region, as the origin of the fleece.
• Cut to a child's length 130 cm long by 20 cm wide, so it wraps twice on a small neck without leaving a tail long enough to catch on a bike or a bannister.
• Light enough that it stays on A fine knit at this width does not bulk up under a coat collar, which is usually why a scarf ends up back in the bag by lunch.
• Ribbed tips hold their shape Each end finishes with a short band of rib, visible in the close ups, that stops the flat knit from rolling.
• Seventeen solid shades Rice, camel, white and four greys for the neutrals, plus coral pink, goose yellow, flower pollen, taro purple, light blue, blue gray, wine red, turmeric, brown, emerald and black.

Best for: Parents buying a first proper winter scarf for a child, and anyone who wants a plain soft one in a specific colour instead of a novelty print.

Why It Works

Most children's scarves are sold on the print. This one has no print at all, so what is left is the fibre and the cut. The narrow 20 cm width does more work than it sounds like: a wide scarf on a small frame has to be bunched to sit right, and bunching under a coat collar is exactly what makes a child pull it off. Two turns at 130 cm and the thing sits flat.

Quick Product Facts: Composition stated by the maker as 100% cashmere, fleece origin given as Albas; 130 cm long; 20 cm wide, about 51 by 8 in; even flat knit with a ribbed band at each end; solid colour, no pattern; seventeen shades; presented by the maker as a children's scarf; ships as one scarf.

How It Fits Your Routine

Week one it lives by the door. Two turns going out, off in the classroom, back on at three. Because it packs down to about the size of a fist, it goes into the backpack rather than getting left on a peg, which is the usual way a scarf disappears in November.

By the second month you will know which of the seventeen shades you should have bought two of. The neutrals hide a winter of playground use better than the pale ones, and rice, camel and the greys sit under a navy or a red coat without a colour argument.

Treat it as you would any fine animal fibre and keep it away from a hot machine cycle. Fold it flat in a drawer over summer rather than hung, so the knit does not stretch at the fold.

FAQ

Is this cashmere? Yes. The maker states 100% cashmere on the spec sheet and names Albas, an Inner Mongolian cashmere region, as the origin of the fleece, which is what gives the knit its soft, light hand against a small neck.

Will it fit an adult? The maker presents it as a children's scarf, and the cut agrees: 130 cm long by 20 cm wide, where an adult scarf usually runs 180 cm or more. An adult can wear it as a narrow single wrap, but it will not go twice around a grown neck.

Is it hand crocheted? It is an even flat machine knit, finished with a short ribbed band at each end that keeps the tips from curling. The close up photographs show that smooth knit rather than open crochet work.

Are any of the colours patterned or two tone? No, all seventeen are solid. Some shades read slightly heathered in the photographs because the fibre is dyed before it is spun, but there is no print, stripe or contrast tip.