Christmas FO: Ginger Bearded Beanie

My brother and i Have a sort of un-official Christmas tradition that I make him some type of ridiculous hat. I always ask him what he would like, and he always says a hat, and occasionally he has specific requests. This year he first told me he wanted a plain beanie in purple (his school color). After that was made, he requested another beard like his previous gift so that he could interchange different colors and "accessorize", lol. 

I knit the beanie with my standby pattern, basic hat by Ooo Baby Knits (a free pattern). I made it the largest size and it fits him great. Before the beard request, I was trying to fancy it up by duplicate stitching a gray letter V (his team is called the Vipers), but it just wasn't coming out well. I'm one who really needs a chart for any type of color work and I was just winging it. When the beard was added to the order, I happily took out the V, lol.

So, here's just the hat by itself :) I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in Grape from my stash and it's so wonderfully soft. The color worked out perfectly too - he can wear it with his basketball jersey if he wants.

The beard is crocheted and I used another free pattern - Bobble Bearded Beanie by Ashlee Prisbee. This is the same pattern I used last time and it worked out great. I made the largest size and used Vanna's Choice yarn in Terra Cotta from my stash for it. This is one of those odd colors that I tend to use all the time. You wouldn't think you'd need that much bright orange yarn, but I've gone through many skeins now so I try to keep it in my stash all the time. To make the hat and beard connect, I added buttons (2 on each side) so the beard can button on and off.

So now Briggs can truly accessorize his previous green hat and brown beard by swapping them out :) His hat was quite the hit on Christmas day, and everyone had to try it on. We had a lot of fun. Merry Christmas, Briggs! I hope it keeps your head and face warm :)