The story of the Beard Hats begins with my friend Maggie, who was looking for a fun, inexpensive gift for the boys in her family. She linked me to an example, and I found a pattern here on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bearded-beanie
The beards are a relatively fast project, though I suggest adding stitches to the sides to make them fit a man's face (especially if that man already has a beard of his own!).
The beards came out so funny that I made bearded hats for my brothers' Christmas gifts. For them the hats are more "beard warmers", since they were both growing beards at the time!