Medal Madness with Jimmy Bean’s Wool and Lorna’s Laces

Everybody’s a little giddy about the Olympics this year, and the folks at Lorna’s Laces and Jimmy Beans Wool have teamed up with a special yarn at a special price that will have us all shouting “USA! USA!”

Lorna’s Laces has made up a special London 2012 colorway that’s available in Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Worsted and Honor yarns. It’s a lovely colorway that includes all the colors of the Olympic rings.

Purchase the yarn now and it will ship after the Olympics. The price that is listed (ranging from $19.67 for the worsted to $23.67 for the others) is not actually the price you will pay because the price goes down every time the United States wins a medal.

For each gold, the price goes down 5 cents, while it drops 3 cents for a silver and a penny for a bronze. As I write this we’ve got three golds, five silvers and four bronzes, which would knock 38 cents off the price if I can do my math right. No one will actually be charged for the yarn until the Games are done, but it is a limited addition colorway so if you want to get it on your needles, order now while there’s still some available.

This is such a fun idea! Have you been watching the Games? Sadly I’ve only seen a snippet of the parade of nations so far; I guess that’s what happens when you’re trying to limit your toddler’s TV intake! I do hope to catch some today, with needles in hand!

[Photo by Lorna’s Laces/Jimmy Beans Wool.]

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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