A beanie hat for fans of the Medway Queen
Paddle Steamer Medway Queen is a 179-ft, British estuary steamer, built in 1924 and requisitioned during World War II. As one of the Dunkirk Little Ships, crewed by the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve (RNVR), she rescued 7,000 British soldiers during Operation Dynamo in 1940. She is now under restoration by the Medway Queen Preservation Society (MQPS) as an historic ship. This pattern has been created in aid of the MQPS, Registered Charity 296236. For further information, see the website medwayqueen.co.uk, and Medway Queen on Wikipedia.

All proceeds from this pattern go to the New Medway Queen Steam Packet Company Limited (aka Medway Queen Preservation Society), charity number 296236.

Pattern description:
A ribbed beanie hat in two colours: navy (or denim) and white, with a turn-up cuff or brim. There are options for knitting flat with a seam, or for knitting in the round, and options to knit the hat with a small, medium or large number of sts per row or round. The height of the hat body is infinitely adjustable. The hat can be knitted with a ribbed brim, or with fairisle letters, spelling “MEDWAY QUEEN”.

Sizes
To fit teen (S), medium adult (M) or large adult (L). Approx head circumference 20 (21, 23) ins, or 51 (53.5, 58.5) cm.

Materials needed
DK yarn:
Navy and white are preferable colours for MEDWAY QUEEN use, being representative of sailor colours. French navy, light navy or denim variations of navy are recommended for poor light or winter knitting. Suggested combinations are navy as main colour and white as contrast, or vice versa.
Any brand of DK yarn which remains stretchy and springy when knitted in rib is fine. For example, acrylic or wool work well, but cotton is not stretchy/springy and will give you a too-loose hat. Some very cheap polyester yarns may give you a smaller hat. For vegans and those who find wool itchy, soft acrylic yarns work best. For winter, a substantial soft and stretchy wool or acrylic yarn makes a warm hat. For summer, acrylic, soft, stretchy baby yarn makes a lighter-weight hat. Samples were knitted for this pattern in Sirdar Snuggly DK (acrylic baby yarn) , Stylecraft Special DK and Robin DK (soft acrylic yarns).
MC. For any version: main colour 100g (179yd/164m) of DK yarn, in plain colour.
CC. For plain version: contrast colour for top edge of cuff, approx 4yd or 4m of DK.
CC. For basic fairisle letters version: contrast colour for cuff with MEDWAY QUEEN letters: 12yd or 11m of DK. For the brim of the reverse-colours fairisle version: approx 150yd or 137m of DK.

Needles:
For knitting flat: straight needles or circular needle in two sizes. For circular knitting, 4 dpns or two circulars in two sizes. For hat cuff: metric size 3.00mm, US size 3, UK and Canadian: size 10. For body of hat: metric size 4mm, US size 6, UK and Canadian: size 8.

Notions:
Row counter, 14 stitch markers (or make 14 small loops of bright-coloured yarn), tapestry needle, dressmaking pins, optional sewing thread and needle.