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

Talking Turkey

Turkey Tail Mushrooms

I did not know crocheting fungi could be so much fun.  It does sound like a strange past time.  I found it a little too absorbing and I am very proud of my 100% handspun fungal creation.  It is for a Fall/Autumn challenge at the International Freeform Forum on Ravelry. Each week there is a different weird and wonderful shroom to recreate in knit or crochet.

I did the best I could with what I had.  I had a rummage in my stash.  The orange and green yarn was a gift from someone, it is handspun but I don't know what it is.   I am guessing it is hand dyed too, I really like the subtle colours.  The dark brown yarn is 100% alpaca.  The colour is lovely. The bright green is some beaded Corriedale (I remember that name as it is a cross between Coronation Street and Emmerdale, two popular  TV soaps in the UK).  The yarn was plied with cotton thread with tiny, clear seed  beads.  The white is 100% silk. I have been working on more Turkey tails in lilacs, silver and purples to go with my other freeform  crochet scrumbles.  If it would stop being so cold and wet and stormy I would like to take my creation to photograph outdoors where it can pretend to be real.  I would also like to walk in the woods to see if I can find any more fun guys  fungi!  xx

Scrumbling along nicely

Oh please indulge me and let me bore you with crochet scrumbles for a while.  I think this is complete now.  I mean how do you know?  If I could do a nice bullion stitch button I would, that is what it is lacking.  I have tried bullion stitch and it is beating me for now, so I had to make do with puffy buttons that look like anemones to me.  As soon as I master it, this scrumble is having a big one!  I did not really like making a scrumble from one colour.  It was for a challenge.  It did make me look at how to add variety, shape and texture to the scrumble without colour.  I tried different hook sizes and worked with multiple strands of yarn but not to any great effect.  I loved adding the other shades of yarn.  I really loved working with silver sparkly thread.  I liberated the thread from a charity shop for 20p, it is a great big spool, I am sure the thrifty bargainousness of the thread makes it even lovelier to work with.  In my opinion scrumbles cry out for sparkly thread.

My friend who is not a crafter is completely baffled by my scrumble.  I hope for any of you that are baffled, after this post you won't be.  I have been busy working on other scrumbles too.  (If you say you have been 'busy working on' it sounds more important than saying 'I have been having great fun playing with yarn').  Working 'freeform' without a pattern is very liberating and I can recommend it if you feel your skills have reached a plateau.  You live and learn eh?  For example my next scrumble will not be repeated.  I liked lots of 'petals' but they were a labour of love.

Scrumbles do not have to be elaborate or complicated.  Simple scrumbles have their place in the world.

Playing with stripes, yarns and stitches.

This was my first attempt at a 'block stitch'.  I will keep practicing, I liked the bend though.

I have also played with circles and spirals.  I am yet to master spirals too.

It is when you start to piece the scrumbles together that the magic happens.  These two were 'made for each other'.

You piece it together like patchwork into a single 'fabric'.  None of the pieces are fixed yet, it is fun swapping them all around.  

Then you have to decide what to do with it.  If I made a hat I would sure get noticed.  Some people make 'art' and 'wall art' with their scrumbles.  You can pay hundreds for a freeform crochet coat.  You can use the scrumbles to embellish plainer fabrics or garments.  I think I am going to turn this one into a cushion.  I am going to work on some pink scrumbles to decide if I would like two pink and purple cushions or one pink and one purple.  Decisions decsions.  I best get scrumbling.  I do hope I have tempted at least a couple of you to have a go.  Let me know eh?  xx