Timber was a booming industry in Pocahontas County, West Virginia in the first half of the 19th century. Towns were built, railroads built, over a billion board feet of lumber processed, and towns died in a short period of about 60 years. Now the lumber camps, railroad and company town are a state park called Cass Scenic Railroad. One of the features of Cass Scenic Railroad is a train ride up the mountain with two switchbacks to Whittaker Station. The switchbacks allow the trains to climb the steep grades. The parallel lines of Whittaker Hat are a small callback to the rails curling around the contours of Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County.

The pattern includes instructions for three sizes and is easily customized for a wider range of sizes or differences in gauge:

• Small (20”/51 cm circumference)
• Medium (22”/55 cm circumference)
• Large (24”/58.5 cm circumference)

Two colors of sport weight yarn are required. You will need roughly 120 yards (110 m) of Color A and 100 yards (90 m) of Color B.