Lazy gnomes

Spring is a wonderful season. It never ceases to amaze me that everything is coming back to live. A butterfly appears from nowhere, green stuff pops up from a dark and sullen ground, and then the bumblebees: don’t they make a lovely sound?
I know this is the real thing, but this season always feels a bit like magic.

One sunny afternoon a toddler stopped before our front garden. He was showing his – what I assumed was his – grandfather something and kept mumbling the same word over and over, something with a lot of b’s. His grandfather told him he didn’t understand (neither did I, I was of course eavesdropping from the sofa). After a minute the grandmother showed up and understood it immediately: the toddler was saying ‘kabouter’, the Dutch word for ‘gnomes.’ The kid was pointing to the knitted mushrooms in the garden (about 4 inches high) and he tried to explain to his granddad that that is where the gnomes live! I am always grateful for the responses to our magical garden. The kids talking about our mushrooms in amazement always delights me, every single time.

But not all can done with magic. No matter how hard I swing my magic wand around, the weed surrounding the mushrooms will not evaporate into thin air. And those gnomes aren’t helping out either. Lazy buggers.

Mushroom Purple

C.O. 24 sts

rounds 1 – 4: *k3, p1*, repeat from * to *;
round 5: kfb, k1, kfb, p1;
round 6: k5, p1;
round 7: k1, k2tog, k2, p1;
round 8: k4, p1;
round 9: k2tog 2x, p1;
rounds 10 – 12: k2, p1;
round 13: k3 tog;
round 14: k1, k2tog.

Knit these last four stitches until the lower part of the mushroom is as long as needed.

Mushroom White/Pink/Red

C.O. 36 sts

rounds 1 – 4: *p1, k5*, repeat from * to *;
round 5: p1, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1;
round 6 – 15: p1, k3;
round 16: p1, k2tog, k1, p1, k1, k2tog;
round 17: p1, k2;
round 18: p1, k2tog;
round 19: p1, k1;
round 20: sl1, k2tog, psso;

Knit these last four stitches until the lower part of the mushroom is 6 cm. Or 2.5 inches long.

round 21: k2, m1, k2;
rounds 22 – 25: k5;
round 26: k2, m1, k3;
rounds 27 – 30: k6.

Happy knitting!

This post is also available in: Dutch