52 Forms of Fungi || #11

Fly agaric!  This is probably one of the most recognizable fungi out there.  They're just so bright and captivating (and toxic) and they always make me think of Mario Brothers.  These were really pretty fun to make.  Oh!  Here is some interesting cultural information/ethnobotany facts about the species.

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013. Check out more of the forms from this project

52 Forms of Fungi || #10

Two in one week!  I am dead set on this catching up thing.  This maze-like clump is called northern tooth and it's found mostly on maples, which is the tree it's on here.  You typically see it associated with wounds though, so I fibbed a little bit on that.  But in my defense, this is a terrible looking maple that was unfortunate enough to have someone plant it DIRECTLY underneath an overhead electric line (don't do that people!  ever!  unless you want your tree pruned in a very tragic way).  And in defense of the tree's feelings here, it's not ALWAYS terrible looking.  This little guy does have wonderful fall color; I just always feel bad about it's misfortunes as I'm jogging by...  Along with the other 5 maples planted in line with it, ALSO under the utility lines.  But I digress...

Here are two links to more information about northern tooth.  I typically like to post the Mushroom Expert profiles with each of these forms, but for some reason it didn't have any photos showing the growth habit that is portrayed here, so that's why I included the second link.

Northern Tooth....... one  ||  two

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013. Check out more of the forms from this project.

52 Forms of Fungi || #9

 There is a species called blue stain fungus that I've been familiar with for a while because it is found in pine trees here.  It happens to be a favorite food source of the pinewood nematode, which causes a disease we know here as "pine wilt".  Blue stain is unrelated, but pine trees that die rapidly and are found to have it are often assumed to have died of pine wilt.  In any case, I recently got to thinking about this fungus and realized that while I have seen the blue stained sapwood in pine trees, I've never seen fruiting bodies associated with it.  After some research I came to find out that the fruiting bodies are so small they are difficult to see (much less knit), but I did come across another type of stain fungi with some really remarkable fruiting structures... GREEN stain fungus.  Unlike blue stain fungus, green stain is found on hardwoods.  I'm pretty amazed by it!  I'm planning to do a larger project with these, but here is a sneak peek for now.  So vibrant.  I love them!

These structures were knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013.  Check out more of the forms from this project.

52 Forms of Fungi || #8

Parrot fungi!  These two are a couple of variations on this species which really stuck out to me when I was flipping through my Audubon mushrooms field guide.  Apparently they are edible and grow near conifers across North America.  The actual mushrooms are very glossy and slimy looking.  I experimented a little with using a gloss spray, but it didn't work out on the knitted material at all, unfortunately.  I'll keep brainstorming on this aspect, since I'm sure it will come around again with a different species.

It's funny, I'm noticing that after I complete a phase of this project the pieces end up on display somewhere in my house.  The enoki mushrooms are sitting on our mantel, and I just put the little parrots in my Norfolk pine in the living room.  The jack o lantern fungi are still hanging out on my knitting shelf, because I'm working on a larger installation for them -- more details on that very, very soon!

These fungi were knitted as a part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, where I knit one different type of fungi for every week of 2013.  Check out some of the other forms I've knitted so far.

52 Forms of Fungi || #7

Enoki mushroom!  We're getting a little culinary this week.  This is the cultivated appearance of the enokitaki mushroom, which is orangey brown in the wild.  I always love looking at them in the grocery store, because just one little clump seems to have hundreds of tiny stalks and caps. For the sake of trying to stay on track with this project, I decided against going full scale... maybe another day.

They're just so neat looking.  I've never eaten them before though, have you?  Can anyone recommend a recipe?

Check out some other posts from the 52 Forms of Fungi project, where I knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013.   In April, I vow to catch up!

52 Forms of Fungi || #6

 These little guys were inspired by some tiny forms that stick out in my mind as one of the most  memorable things I saw in nature on our Arkansas camping trip last summer.  They were incredible!  I'm experimenting a little bit with Jacquard dyes that you just paint on to the fabric.  It doesn't work quite as well with knits as I had hoped, but I'll keep working with it.  More to come!

52 Forms of Fungi || #5

Lately, I've been experimenting with a species commonly referred to as "Jack-O-Lantern fungus", and decided to use it for my 52 Forms of Fungi project.  Folk stories say that the mushroom's gills glow in the dark, hence the name.  Some sources tout this as a load of bull, but if you've witnessed this yourself I'd be interested to hear about it... These knitted forms do not glow in the dark, to clarify; I just thought that was a fascinating tidbit.

If you're familiar with Jack O Lantern mushrooms, these may not look quite right because they are normally found in clumps of many mushrooms.  As per my guidelines for this project, I'm only doing individuals but I AM working on several more of these for a project in the near future.

Check out more of my 52 Forms of Fungi posts

BIG THING #2 aka 52 Forms of Fungi || #4

You might recognize these little guys from my Decomposition series, Colony I and Colony II.  Well, they are making an appearance again because of the second big thing that I alluded to last week... a third installation will take place this next week at Momentum: Art Doesn't Stand Still in Oklahoma City.  This is the first time I have taken part in a juried exhibition, and I am very honored to have been selected for participation.  All of the Decomposition phases have thus far taken place in an existing natural setting, so another unique aspect of this installation is that I am recreating a natural environment to use for placement of the knitted fungi replicas.  It is challenging, but also exhilarating.  It incites the same response in myself that I seek to encourage in observers... attention to detail, awe at natural complexities, and an awareness that there is so much more going on around me than I could ever in my lifetime begin to fathom.

I learned how to use a sander today, which to my delight was actually pretty fun.  This made me happy because woodworking is a long term aspiration of mine... so at least now I know I don't hate one of the main components!  In any case, if you live around the Oklahoma City area I hope you can come out to the show, this Friday or Saturday from 8 to midnight, at 50 Penn Place (across the street from Penn Square Mall).

52 Forms of Fungi || #3

 52 Forms of Fungi #3!

This form of fungi is a polypore known as Ganoderma lucidum.  Presence of these conks around the base of a tree suggest internal decay, the extent of which should be investigated further to determine degree of risk for failure.  So while they are beautiful, they're not such a great sign... However, they have been shown to have healing properties and are produced for herbal supplements.

The fruiting bodies themselves vary greatly in color and shape.  For this piece I went with the more brightly colored variation, but you will likely see more variations throughout this project.  I've been working on multiple forms of Ganoderma over the past few months, tweaking the pattern and colorwork and trying to come up with a result that I'm happy with.  This one is getting there, but I still have some work to do.

By the way, if you ever see these conks in the woods you can break them off and bring them home for decor.  The tissue is very woody and will not get smooshy or oozy or anything like that - I've got two on my fireplace mantel that I've had since 2007!

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52 Forms of Fungi || #2

I had a question from Misti recently about whether I record the patterns for these pieces that I'm working on as I go.  The answer is YES, I write them down in case the result is something that I really like and want to duplicate.  For instance, I am already in the process of making more of the forms depicted in this post for a larger installation.  If any of the pieces have potential to be incorporated into the Decomposition series, I've gotta have some record of what I did!  In any case...

52 Forms of Fungi #2!

This polypore was inspired by some conks I saw out in a natural area recently.  The ones I looked at were white in color, but I was purchasing yarn recently and this shade of Knit Picks Palette, called "Pennyroyal", grasped my attention and I knew I had to do something with it.  A project idea came to mind and this is the first piece for that project.  I've been using the Palette yarn A LOT lately, and it's quickly becoming a favorite for these types of projects... so many great colors!

This is the first "fungi" that I've attached only temporarily to a living tree, so it was fun trying out a way to do that (which worked pretty well).  On that note, no trees were harmed during the installation of this fungi!  Although, there was a power-walker who kept circling the nearby trail and was giving me some really funny looks.  It made me giggle to myself a little bit... I can already tell that this project is going to be a lot of fun!  Are you ready for more?

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Tutorial || Silver Knitted Mushroom Necklace

 Those little silver 'shrooms from last week's 52 Forms of Fungi post are too cute not to find a use for, so today I wanted to share how you can make your own and WEAR them on a chain as a cute little accessory.  Note:  You will need to know some basic knitting and crochet skills here.

Knitted mushroom stalk pattern:

cast on 20 stitches with straight needles

Row 1: knit two stitches together to end of row

Row 2: purl to end of row

Rows 3 & 4: repeat rows 1 & 2

Row 5: knit to end of row

Row 6: purl to end of row

Rows 7-10: repeat rows 5 & 6 twice

Cut yarn and place all stitches on the double pointed needle.  Set aside to start on the mushroom cap pattern.

Knitted mushroom cap pattern (front half):

cast on 20 stitches with straight needles

Rows 1-4: same as mushroom stalk pattern

Row 5: place double pointed needle behind the straight needle with the stitches on it.  The right (knit) side should be facing the same direction.  Knit the first stitch of the front needle together with the first stitch from the second needle.  Repeat until all stitches have been knitted.

Row 6: pur to end of row

Row 7: slip slip knit, knit 1, knit two stitches together

Row 8: purl 3 stitches together

cut yarn with a 6 inch tail, pull through the last stitch and tighten.

Knitted mushroom cap pattern (back half):

cast on 20 stitches with straight needles

Rows 1-4: same as mushroom cap front half pattern

Row 5: knit to end of row

Row 6: purl to end of row

Row 7 to end: same as mushroom cap front half pattern

Finishing:

Sew the right and left sides of the stalk together so that the knitted (right) side is facing out.  You now have a cylindrical stem.  Put the two mushroom cap halves back to back so the knitted (right) side is facing out.  Sew the sides together up to the top, leaving the bottom open.  Weave in all ends using a sewing needle.

Making necklace pendants out of the mushrooms:

Make a slip knot and put it on the crochet hook.  Make a single crochet stitch through the top of a mushroom and make a chain the length that you would like it to hang.  Chain an additional 6 or 7 stitches and then make a single crochet stitch back through the top of your desired length.  Cut thread and pull the end tight through the remaining stitch.  Weave in the end.  Do this with each of the mushrooms (however many you want to use) at varying lengths (or however you would like to wear them) and then thread the necklace chain through the little loop you made at the top of each crochet chain.

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A Work in Progress

Here's just a little peek at part of my process.  I'm at the start of a short week here - have a great one!

52 Forms of Fungi || #1

This first installment of the 52 Forms of Fungi project makes me realized that I should add one more parameter to the guidelines: the fungi may or may not be fictional.  I bought this silver embroidery thread quite a while ago with the intent of knitting some little mushrooms with it for another project that you'll see very soon.

Let's be honest, it's highly unlikely that metallic, silver fungi exists anywhere in nature other than maybe Rivendell (which is totally a real place..... totally..), but nonetheless, isn't it just so dang pretty?  These little pieces were the perfect start to this fun project, and I'm looking forward to sharing more!

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52 Forms of Fungi || Intro

(photo: Stacks, from the Decomposition series)

It's no secret that I have an affinity for fungi, and that I am also a slightly obsessed knitter.  I've decided to challenge myself this year (because after all, what is the New Year for if not for challenges) to take my favorite combo (knitting and fungi) to the next level by knitting 52 different forms of fungi in 2013. That's one form of fungi per week, if you do the math, but for the sake of giving myself a little flexibility during the busy times we will just say that the "one per week" has a December 31st deadline.  The above photo is not my first week's fungi - if you've been following the blog for a few months you will recognize this as an image of my Stacks installation from the Decomposition series.  I do have a few parameters that I will follow for this initiative:

1. These will not be all out installations, but merely one or two pieces of varied types of fungi.  Some of them may turn into phases of the Decomposition series, but they don't HAVE to.

2. I may or may not identify the type of fungus - sometimes it's difficult to key out the species and while tree ID is my thing I'm a little new in my interest in mycology.  Some of the pieces may just be inspired by a mushroom/polypore I saw somewhere, whether in the wild or in a book or on the internet.

3. These do not have to be native to my locality.  Because really, who other than a fungi specialist will know the difference!?  I say this biting my tongue a little bit, because I myself am a stickler for making things look "realistic", if by realistic you mean calling out the discrepancies in rock climbing technique in movies like The Descent.  Yeah.  We won't go there, but the focus here is on the forms themselves, not the culture of them.

Those are my main rules, so let's see where this takes us, shall we?  I have a couple of other challenges that I may touch on later (I'm an ambitious one), but I'll save those updates for when I actually have something to update on.  I would like to post some minor goals each month rather than my big year long bucket list (which I did write), and then post again once I accomplish them.  Alas, more to come in the future.  You'll want to stick around.  Will I succeed?  Will I fail?  Will my husband cry out in frustration because we can't ever watch movies with subtitles?  You'll have to wait and find out...

View later posts about the 52 Forms of Fungi project.