How long shall I make this scarf?

One question I was asked some time ago was how long a scarf should be, especially when the person is knitting it as a gift. Unfortunately, my answer was: "Well, it depends!" … Not very satisfactory, I agree.

So I am going to look at a few scarf patterns to see if I can offer some more suggestions, including the ​Elizabeth Scarf  in the photo above, and the Beckenham Scarf, pictured below.
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I tend to think of the Elizabeth Scarf as a ladies' scarf and the Beckenham Scarf as one for the men‐folk, but of course this is rather a sweeping generalisation and both could be suitable for anyone with the right yarn and colour choices.

Both of these scarves feature reversible stitches which means they will suit any style of wrapping. If a scarf is made from a regular knit stitch, then sometimes the less-satisfactory wrong side is on show when it is casually draped around the neck or thrown over a shoulder. But a reversible scarf can be tucked inside an overcoat or allowed to wrap or drape at will, so will suit a variety of uses.

So, how do you choose what length to make your next scarf?

​Well, the best rule of thumb is that you should make a scarf approximately equal to the height of the person who will be wearing it. This will give a nicely proportioned scarf without being too short for a tall person or swamping a more diminutive figure. However, you can modify this "rule" by thinking of how the person usually wears their scarves.

​So I am going to look at few "categories" of scarf-wearing and suggest different scarf lengths that would work for each situation.

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The Executive Scarf ...

The Senatorial or Executive scarf... You see this style often at places such as Washington Dulles airport on a Friday afternoon. The scarf is neatly draped around the neckline and allowed to hang open with the scarf ends exactly aligned, then the blazer or overcoat is shrugged on over the top. If the temperatures start to drop, then one end of the scarf can be folded neatly over the other and the coat buttoned up.

For this style you will want a reasonably narrow scarf, say 15‐20cm/6‐8 ins wide, preferably worked in a soft and fine yarn such as a luxurious merino.

 For the ladies, continue until it measures about 112‐120cm/44‐48 ins long.

For a man's scarf,  120‐135cm/48‐54 ins would make a good draping length.

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For the active set...

The next style of scarf is for the Active Set. It is a bit longer than the previous version, so can either be flipped back over the shoulder or wrapped tightly around the neckline.

This is a popular style for walkers and cyclists. The wrapping gives extra warmth at the point where the wind usually finds a gap at the top of your coat, yet is not trailing to risk getting caught in the spokes of your wheel.
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Knit these scarves with a width of 18‐22 cm/7‐9 ins using a cozy medium‐weight wool, and with a length of about 135cm/54 ins for a lady and 150cm/60 ins for a chap.

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Just a regular scarf....

That brings us to the Regular Scarf. We all have some of these don't we? They are perfect for most uses – just a good average width and not too long or too short. If you can't decide what length of scarf to make, then go for this one. It will find a happy home somewhere!

Keep the width as for the last scarf but make it about 165cm/66 ins long for the ladies and 185cm/72 ins for the men.

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For the artists in your life ...

The next style is for the Artistic people you know. Adding an extra 15cm/6 ins to the length of the scarf gives extra scope for more innovative wrapping methods.

One example of this would be the "Four-way Wrap" which you can see in the Elizabeth Scarf pictured here, beautifully modelled by our daughter Anna! For details about how to work this wrap, please click here.
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So for the ladies, aim for 185cm/72 ins long for this style,
​and for the men, make it about 200cm/78 ins long.

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Or go wider ...

Or you can go wider. Knitting a 22‐ 25cm/9‐10 ins scarf will give a good wide result, but going even further to 28‐ 35cm/11‐14 ins will give a cozy extra width for scrunching and folding into shape.

The chunky Beckenham Scarf shown here is 28cm/11 ins wide x 185cm/72 ins long.

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For the Fashionistas ...

Then there are the Fashionistas among us! Embrace your inner fashion style and join the current trend for super‐long wrapping styles and volume. And this goes for both ladies and men! Use the same width as above but just keep knitting until it looks right for the seriously fashion‐conscious recipient. Just stop before Dr Who might consider wearing it!

For this type of volume‐wrapping continue knitting until the scarf measures about 200‐215cm/78‐84 ins in length.

(Oh, and in case you want to know, there were several Dr Who scarves, and the longest measured a cool 26ft! That's some serious knitting there...)

I hope that gives you lots of scope to adapt your knitting pattern to make the "perfect" scarf either for yourself or as a gift for a friend or relative. 

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 For information about any of the patterns featured here or our
Reversible Knitting Stitches book, ​please click the Patterns tab above.

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