WHITTAKER-ACOLORWORK HAT
BY STEVEN HICKS
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.
FINISHEDMEASUREMENTS
GAUGE
Small (20"/51 cm circumference) Medium (22"/55 cm circumference) Large (24"/58.5 cm circumference) 24 stitches = 4" / 10 cm
YARN AND NEEDLES
Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, or any similar sport weight yarn Color A: 120 yards (110 m) Color B: 100 yards (90 m) US #3/3 mm 16"/40 cm circular needle US #4/3.5 mm 16"/40 cm circular needle US #4/3.5 mm double pointed needles Marker Darning needle
When working the fair isle charts, it's important to maintain even tension so that your finished project will be the correct size and your colors will lay evenly next to each other without puckering Or pulling. Because the main pattern is a simple 4-stitch repeat, you can adjust the size by simply adding/subtracting multiples of 4 stitches. If you adjust your hat pattern, remember you may also want to adjust your ribbing pattern, which is a 5-stitch repeat.
ABBREVIATIONS
K knit P purl K2tog knit two together PM place marker DIRECTIONS BRIM With Color A, cast on 120 (130, 145) stitches. Join in the round, and pm to mark beginning/end of round. Ribbing Pattern: \*k3, p2, repeat from \* to end of round Work ribbing for 4.5 (5, 6)"/11.5 (12.5, 15) cm (wide, foldable brim) or 2 (2.25, 2.5)"/ 5 (6, 6.5) cm (narrower, flat brim). Small size only: Round 1: knit one round (120 stitches) Medium size only: Round 1: \*k2tog, k63, repeat from \* once (128 stitches) Large size only: Round 1: k2tog, knit to end of round (144 stitches) All sizes: Work Chart A, repeating the chart 30 (32, 36) times each round, ending after Round 40.
CROWN/TOP SHAPING
Work Chart B, repeating the chart 30 (32, 36) times each round, until hat measures 7.5"(8.25", 9") / 19 (21, 23) cm from beginning of hat. (N0TE: If you knitted a wide brim to fold, measure from the fold line). End working Chart B after Round 4. Work Chart C, repeating the chart 30 (32, 36) times each round, ending after Round 7. Change to double pointed needles when the circular needle is too long. Next rounds: with Color B, \*k2tog, repeat from \* until you have 8 stitches left. Break yarn and, using a darning needle, thread tail through 8 stitches on needles and pull tight.
