drawn beyond the lines: amanita not-so-scaria : large mushroom pattern

the centerpiece of the "woodland denizens" mobile i knit for my gestating son. i wanted a slightly dark feel to it, so i opted for a deeper red and off-white yarns instead of the typical bright red/bright white. the mushroom was knit top-down in three pieces and stitched together. there are patterns out there for knit-at-once mushrooms but they are MUCH smaller than this one. i also gauged it looser than most toys are knit, because frankly i was lazy and wanted it to knit quickly. you may want to use smaller needles for a tighter fabric!

edits were made to the pattern and construction after the piece was finished when i saw all sorts of things i should've done! i.e., the pattern is better than my finished work.

yarns
knitpicks DK swish in hollyberry
red heart worsted in soft white
?? worsted, some sort of tan
?? worsted, some sort of brown

needles
set of 4 DPNs size 9 (see note above)

pattern for red cap
CO 4 to one DPN
work first round in i-cord style: kfb, k1, kfb, k1
distribute to 3 DPNs and join, knit one round
kfb all st - 16 total
k all st
[kfb, k1]
k all st
[kfb, k1]
k all st
[kfb, k2]
k all st
[kfb, k3]
k all st
...repeat pattern, adding one stitch to the k's until the cap is as big as you want it.* then bind off.
i knit my cap to about 36 stitches per needle, end size approx. 6.5" diameter (the size of my hand with fingers outspread).

*revision note: i recommend actually adding 10-15 solid knit rows at the end to give the cap some curve, like a hat. otherwise your mushroom will look like mine - a flying saucer. hehe.

pattern for underside of cap
repeat as above with a different color, but don't add the solid knit rows at the end (if you did for the red cap).

pattern for stem
CO 20 st, join on DPNs
knit 17 rounds - or as many as you like for the stem length
[k2, k2tog] - 14st
k
[k1, k2tog] - 10st
k
[k2tog] - 5 st
...bind off.

pattern for white dots on cap
using the off-white yarn and a yarn needle, wrap 4, 6, or 9 stitches on the red cap. or you could crochet into fabric, or weave spirals. felt dots would work too. use your imagination to style it the way you like!

construction
i sewed the caps together inside-out (leaving a space to stuff with filling) and then turned them right-side out, stuffed, and finished the seam. then i stuffed and attached the stem to the underside.