Mushrooms Received!

I had so much fun opening my box on Saturday!! Thanks to everyone who sent a mushroom my way, and especially to Sonya for hostessing, sorting, swapping, and making my spring day!

Look at these beauties!

From Deborah:

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This fuzzy morel from Alison is the northwestern variety, a relative of my Rocky Mountain Morel:

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From jennycno3, this realistic Wood Blewit:

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This sparkly delight from Small Fox:

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This soft lovely from Becka:

Morel Mushrooms!

I just finished my fungi for the Mushroom Swap!

Here is the handsome lineup, modeled against a luxurious black fur coat (my dog Mosca)

These fungi are perfectly camouflaged against the lovely, and sleepy, Ceenz-Bert:

Now to make some clever tags and send these babies on to their new homes!

P.S. Most of the roving is from Carolina Homespun, whose tiny  shop (whoa-sensory overload!) I visited last time I was in the Bay Area. The detailing on the caps is yarn from Kristin.

Stirrings and Shrooms

I’m am beginning my first blog-collaboration! I will be working with the talented Jen at Painted Fish Studio on a photo project for Spring we’ve titled “Stirrings”. We’ll each be looking for evidence of spring in our neighborhoods. Since she lives in the midwest, her photos may have to be REALLY abstract for a while longer. In the meantime, things are warming up just a tad here and I am offering this photo as evidence of my feelings of spring:

That’s me, waiting at the bus stop. Knitting. OUTDOORS. Glorious day! After a few weeks of sludgy air. And yes, you’ll see the finished project after February 21, when a little somebody gets it for his birthday!

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Also new for me, I have signed up to participate in a Handmade Mushroom Swap with the marvelous KnitSonya (nope, you can’t join…entries are closed!)

I’m making my mushrooms by needle-felting, the first thing I’ve really done using this technique. Here is where I sheepishly admit that Sonya gave me a great xmas present (in 2007) consisting of felting needles, a foam pad, and lots of different colored roving for me to take up this hobby. I’ve done mostly nothing with her present but fondle the wool for more than a year. Thinking positively…What better time for me to take the leap than for a project she is hostessing?