All natural fibers!

I have had several requests for the beard beanies in all natural fibers.  I am adding a few to my shop here an there as I experiment with the softest all natural fiber yarns for the beards.  If you keep checking my etsy shop, you should see them pop up here and there as I work on some new patterns.

I listed one today that is knitted from a fine deep red wool yarn with a beard crocheted in black with a super soft bamboo/silk blend yarn.

New website!

Now there's a new place you can order your beard beanies too!  We've opened a new site at beardbeanie.com!  At that site, you can order the hats in the quantities you want!  There is also a new blog for the new site that mainly features a photo gallery where you can share your photos of you in your beard beanies!  It also has the new black and charcoal striped bearded beanie available for purchase!

Black and Gray Bearded Lumberjack hat ON SALE! for the rest of January!

Hi all!  The rest of 2010 proved to be quite a whirlwind for me!  Thanks for all of the beard beanie love I received!  It was incredible!

I have lots and lots of news to share!!!  But I think I'll spread it out in a few posts, otherwise I would be writing a novel here in one post!

So, for now I want you all to know that the black and gray bearded lumberjack hat from my etsy shop is ON SALE!  And will remain on sale for the remainder of January.  $10 off the regular price, so $40 each.  I have several in stock, so if you don't see the quantities you want, send me a convo through etsy, or an email to beardbeanie@gmail.com and we'll be sure to get you taken care of!

Stay tuned in the next week!  I have new hats, new patterns, and some other big news to share as well!!!

Our trip to Moab!

A few weeks ago, my hubby wanted to take us all to Moab.  Being born and raised in Utah, I guess it was kind of ironic and a bit sad that I'd never been there before.  At the time, I was swamped with orders, but, I figured it's important to always make time for family, right?  So I gathered up all my work and took it on the road.

When planning vacations, I generally go for the more tropical destinations, you know, nice beaches and such.  I do have to say though, Moab has some truly breathtaking sights.  We were just there over a short weekend, so there's much more than what we saw.  We went through Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.  I think the kids favorite part, however, was the sand dune.

Do you see us in the delicate arch picture?  We are there, you just have to look close. 

 We happened to be there when it rained.  When it rains, you have instant waterfalls all over!  This is one that we stopped to see.  If you look, you can see Mitch behind it!

I have two new hats that I am introducing to the shop that we took pictures of as well.  One in hunter orange, for those hunters out there!  And one I call the green river hat.  The picture we liked best of it was at the green river viewpoint in Canyonlands.

And last but not least, we decided to take one more picture of the family.  I call it a family of beard hats!!!

How I became a hooker! (Crocheter, that is!)

So my etsy team, the Create Crochet Team, is doing a series of questions for us to discuss on our blogs for everyone out there to get to know us a bit better.  This weeks question is - 

When did you start crocheting?  Did you teach yourself, or did someone teach you?  Tell us the story of how you became a hooker.

My crocheting I credit solely to my stepgrandmother.  My grandmother had died many years before I was born and my grandpa had since married a sweet lady named Neta.  They lived next door. My grandpa died when I was very young and she was left alone in the little house.  I was the youngest in a large family.  I would often visit her.  She liked to cook, sew, and crochet.  All things which I like to do now too! 

I vividly remember her watching Dallas and Dynasty when I visited her in the evening.  She would crochet as she watched her old tube TV.  She started teaching me when I was probably 5 or 6 yrs old, I'm not sure exactly.  She taught me to make granny squares from her scrap yarn.  Eventually I started making hotpads, then I moved onto bigger projects. I would crochet baby sweaters for my nieces and nephews as they were born and often did edgings on receiving blankets that my mom had hemstitched.

Several years after she passed away, my mom brought over a bag of yarn and granny squares that she had received.  I took them all and put edgings on them and made them into a nice afghan.  It brought back a lot of memories of a sweet lady that taught me so much.  Hopefully I can pass it on to someone too!

medallion earring pattern

I'd been toying with the idea of working up a pair of earrings for awhile.  I don't make jewelry in the traditional sense.  I've always been afraid that if I allowed myself to learn, I'd have beads everywhere!  and I already have yarn everywhere!

Anyway, here is what I came up with.  I was pretty happy with how they turned out!

I used a small amount of aunt lydia's cotton crochet thread in white and a size 9 (1.15 mm) hook.  Gauge is not really important here.  You want a fairly tight stitch and try to make sure your gauge is consistent.

Medallion Pattern:  Ch 3.  Sl st to beginning ch to form a ring.  Row 1:  Ch 3.  Make 20 dc into ring.  Sl st to beginning dc to join.  Row 2: Ch 4.  Skip one stitch and sl st in next stitch.  * Ch 3, skip one stitch and sl st in next stitch. *  Repeat the pattern between ** completely around the circle ending with a sl st in the stitch where you began this row.  Row 3:  In each ch space, work sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc.  When you have completed this pattern in each ch space, sl st to beginning sc to join.  Fasten off and weave in ends.  Attach your earring hooks to your completed medallion by simple inserting them in the desired position.  I used 'beadalon' ear wires I purchased at my local craft store.

perfect oatmeal raisin cookies

So at my house, we are diehard oatmeal chocolate chip cookie fans.  However, about once a year, I start craving oatmeal raisin cookies.  But, it can't be any oatmeal raisin cookie, it has to be just the way I like them.  I really hate raisins, so it's a bit strange that I like this oatmeal raisin cookie.  All I can say is the secret for me lies in the treatment of the raisins.  I hate biting into a cookie and 'finding' a raisin.  The raisins have to blend in with the texture, and the flavor of the rest of the cookie.  This cookie is soft and chewy with a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavors.    And, the raisins blend with, not stand out from, the rest of the cookie. 

Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
2 cups raisins
1/3 cup water
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla
 Bring raisins and water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Cover and turn off heat.  Let this set until all or most of the water has been absorbed by the raisins.  I would recommend letting this set for at least 1 hour to get the proper effect.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bown, cream butter and sugars together well.  Add eggs and beat well (4-5 minutes), or until light and fluffy.  Mix dry ingredients in another bowl and gradually add to the batter until thoroughly incorporated.  Add the raisins and mix thoroughly (if there is much water left in the pan with the raisins, drain it first).  Stir in vanilla.  Form cookies into 1 1/2 - 2 inch balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 6 - 8 minutes.  Do not overbake these cookies.  They will appear slightly underdone, but once they are thoroughly cooled, should be perfect.  You may, however, have to adjust this cooking time for your oven and your bakeware.  One more note, I use whole wheat pastry flour in these.  It makes them a bit healthier, and you'd never know the difference!