Here is the final result of my own version of a bearded viking hat:
Step 1- Make a beanie. I made a standard grey in-the-round (crown-to-brim) beanie out of DC, making FPDC where I wanted the vertical ridges to appear. Then I used a contrast color to make the brim band, also using FPDC and front loops only for similar effect.
Step 2- Make some horns. I used the instructions found here as a guide, allowing my horns to twist just slightly because I liked the effect. That and I got tired of making row after row of twisted horns only to discover I had no idea where my mistake was... I strongly suggest using a stitch marker or safety pin or something to keep your place on each round.
Then I added a couple of rounds of grey yarn where the horn would eventually be sewn to the beanie.
Step 3- Make a beard base. I used the beard instructions found here as a guide, making a few more chain stitches to get around my man's face until it fit just right (or close enough).
Step 4- Make the beard. I used two strands of yarn for each "hair"- one black and one light brown- to add depth. I folded each pair in half and attached them tassel-style around the posts of the beard base stitches, ending up with four strands of yarn (two black and two light brown) coming down from each tassel tie. Put on your favorite music or a long movie, and get comfortable- this step takes a while, but is so very worth it in the end. You could easily vary the length and thickness of your beard simply by cutting the strands shorter, attaching the strands to fewer stitch-posts, or doing fewer horizontal rows of tassels.
Step 5- Attach the beard to the beanie. I did this by roughly sewing a button to the end corner of each side of the beard and then pushing each button through any two stitches in the light brown part of the beanie brim. I used fairly large buttons so that they would really stay in there, and did NOT make specific button holes in the beanie so that I could move the beard up, down, forward or backward depending on the wearer of the beanie as well as to account for the pull and stretch of the beard.
Full, detailed post of how each step was made to come next. Enjoy!
