To Katie (sorry, the way blogger comments are set up it's not possible to email back unless an email address is included in comments):

For a beginner, I'd recommend wood or plastic needles. Metal needles can be slippery and some are hard on the hands. I do like the Addi Turbo circular metal needles for sweater-knitting, but for straight needles I prefer either wood (there are a number of good choices out there) or something like Pony Pearls or Balene II plastics. Or Swallow Casein, if you can find them.

As for yarn, soft and warm and easy to knit with...I'd rule out a lot of the "fantasy" yarns with tags and flags and fur (besides, if it's for your husband, he might not want that). Personally, I like alpaca or alpaca-wool blends. Artful Yarn's "Jazz" is a nice yarn. My vest is made of Classic Elite's "Inca Alpaca", which was super nice to knit with and which feels really really good. And there are some good "cashmerino" (mostly merino and some cashmere) blends out there that make good scarves. And among all-wool yarns, I like 1824 Wool (soft, interesting colors, good to knit with) and good old Cascade 220 (that one might be less soft though). Noro Kureyon is a fun yarn and very popular, but I personally think it might be a bit scratchy or rough for a scarf.

If you want, e-mail me directly and I can send you the links I have to some of the reversible stitch-patterend scarf sites, which make up into really cool scarves that aren't just all garter or stockinette.

Also, if you can, take a look at the book "Last Minute Knitted Gifts." There are a couple of "manly" scarves in there, including a REALLY gorgeous one out of some dark brown cashmere yarn. I plan to use that stitch pattern on a scarf some time.