Fungus Among Us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus_indusiatus

I am having a bit too much fun crocheting fungus.  This week is the turn of Phallus Indusiatus or The Bamboo Mushroom which is much easier to say.  If you have a mind to you can search Bamboo Mushroom on google images and you can see the variety of shapes and colours that they appear in. Or click this link and I have searched it for you ;)  They are edible.  I can't say I fancy them.  I have never seen anything quite like it.  I know when I have picked wild field mushrooms they have never made it to my plate as wild mushrooms seem full of grubs.  I think the little skirt on a Bamboo Mushroom must offer it some protection from flying critters that would lay their eggs in the fungi, a bit like a built in mosquito net.

I decided straight away that Ruffle Yarn would be effective as the skirt.  I had no ruffle yarn and I had never worked with it.  I would be interested to know if you have worked with it how you got on.  How did you find it to work with and what did you make?  For freeform crochet effects ruffle yarn has great potential.  It is pesky to work with though.  I have seen Ruffle Yarn Scarf kits sold as suitable for beginners, I must be a bit challenged!  I found it very frustrating to work with and control.  I love my finished fungus though.  I am keeping them in a shoe box.  I am waiting for the weather to be nicer than it is today (it is nasty, windy and wet today) then I can take my fungi outside to photograph, (as you do).  

I used photographs and keep them in front of me while I crochet and I try and copy what I see.  It is a bit like drawing or painting but with yarn and hooks.  The caps of the mushrooms are crocheted using scrap singles of handspun yarn.  I love being able to put the waste bits left on a bobbin to use.  The stalks and skirts are commercial yarn.  If you have never crocheted yourself some fungus, I really can't recommend it enough!

Thank you for reading and thank you very much for leaving your lovely comments.  xx