I don't know about you, but I've got a mushroom-lover in my life. So, what better gift for a fan of the fungi than a pair of cozy hand-knitted mushroom socks?
The only set-back I was up against for this project was the recipient's wool allergy, which made it a little challenging to source a yarn in my local craft stores that was in both the weight and color that I had in mind.
I ended up going with Yarn Bee's Bamboo-tiful in the color Basil.
This #3 light-weight yarn is a blend of 50% cotton / 50 % viscose from bamboo, and is so, so soft! The shade of green matched the red yarn that I already had in my stash, so even though it was a bit chunkier than I had thought of using at first, I decided to give it a go!
All of the mushroom, knitting charts I had found before beginning this project did not end up working, since my gauge was smaller than it typically is with sock weight yarn.
So, I pulled out a pad of graph paper and sketched some mushrooms that used fewer stitches. Once I was happy with my mushroom's shape, it was time to cast on!
I ended up using US size 4 double pointed needles, and for the accent colors I used Woolike by Loops and Threads in the colors: beige, red and brown. Since Woolike is a #1 superfine weight, I held two threads together while knitting the cuff, colorwork, heel and toe, and it balanced out with the bamboo yarn just fine.
Also, lest you think me more capable than I am - I did not knit with three different colors for those mushroom caps! I knitted the caps completely in red, then once the socks were finished, I embroidered the spots in beige using duplicate stitch.
After finishing this pair of socks, I stumbled across some information about Bamboo yarn, and learned that it has very little elasticity, so it's not really an ideal fiber for sock knitting.
They did end up being a bit of a squeeze going over the heel, however once they're on they fit perfectly. *phew* 🧶🧦👌
All in all, I love how this pair of socks worked up. They're perfect for keeping a toadstool lover's tootsies toasty!
