Design with Mohair for a Chance to Win $2,000

Vogue Knitting, Vogue Knitting Live and Mohair South Africa are sponsoring a mohair blanket design contest, the winner of which will gt a prize package that includes $2,000 cash.

Knitters and crocheters are welcome to enter the design contest, which calls for individually designed and hand knit or crocheted blankets no smaller than 48 inches square and no larger than 72 inches square made with yarn that is at least 25 percent mohair. Designers may submit up to four designs.

Entries (which include an entry form and three color photos) must be received by March 16, 2015. Finalists who are selected will then have to send their completed blanket and ball bands to Vogue Knitting, with the final judging happening at Vogue Knitting Live Pasadena on April 17, 2015.

The grand prize winner will receive $2,000, a VIP package at a future Vogue Knitting Live, an editorial feature and pattern publication in Vogue Knitting and coverage on the Mohair South Africa website and other media. A runner up in both knitting and crochet will receive a gift basket of yarn, their pattern in Vogue Knitting and a feature on the Mohair South Africa site, as well as a class package for a future Vogue Knitting Live.

Sounds like fun. If any of you enter I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Mohair South Africa.]

A few years ago I wrote a post that was full of patterns for knit mushrooms, but I don’t think I ever did a post that was knitting patterns with mushrooms on them, so today’s the day.

I love the Fungi Beanie from Jacki Bean, which calls for worsted weight yarn and uses duplicate stitch to add the mushrooms and other details. I think the colors she used for the design are tonal/multicolor so it doesn’t use as many colors as it looks like, but you can use whatever red, green, brown and white yarn you have in your stash for those details.

How about some mushroom socks? The Magic Toadstool sock form Stone Knits includes a ring of mushrooms around the leg, contrasting heel and toe and a little more colorwork at the toe for extra cuteness. As shown it uses four colors and comes in three sizes.

Or there’s the Fairy Ring Socks from Katie Green, which have mushrooms of two sizes on the legs, plus a bit of wavy grass. They have a contrasting cuff, heel and toe and some colorwork flecks in the body of the sock as well. This one is available in eight sizes to fit everyone from a baby to an XL adult.

This trippy cowl from Hunt Hand Knits looks like a lot of fun to knit. The Fungus Among Us Cowl is shown using four colors of DK weight yarn, though you can do it with as few as two if you’d rather.

Stitch some mushroom mittens with this cute pattern from Holly C Watson. This design uses three colors, and it’s shown with a self-striping yarn on the mushroom caps, which makes the colors change without you having to do any work. The pattern is charted but it’s a pretty easy repeat. The mittens are one size.

If you don’t feel like knitting mushrooms but still want to give your project a touch of the forest, the Toadstools Cardigan from Julie Taylor may be what you’re looking for. It’s stitched as a plain cardigan worked in DK weight yarn and sized for newborns up to 4 years old. The mushrooms are added with embroidery and the pattern includes the design, which you can trace onto water soluble stabilizer to stitch the mushrooms onto your sweater. Or anything else you want. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

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