Friends, I Found Them
Meeting my beloved Amanita muscaria
It was mid afternoon in the first week of October. The rain had finally cleared, so we decided to risk taking Jack out for a walk, hoping we’d keep mostly dry. We donned boots, coats and headed for a regular spot. The place we normally park was full of cows - not Jack’s favourite - so we parked elsewhere and walked through the woods. Exiting the woods over a stile to join our more usual path, a flash of bright red on the ground. There they were, Amanita muscaria at last!
I don’t know what it is that’s so charming about the red and white of the fly agaric mushrooms, nor how I fell so much in love without having met them in the wild. I’ve been gripped by a particular fascination for fungi of all kinds for several years now, but these elusive mushrooms hold a very special place in my heart.
All this year I’ve been working hard on two new knitwear designs, inspired by Amanita muscaria: a pair of socks and a hat to match my Fairy Ring cardigan design from last year. For me, publishing a knitwear design is not just about writing the pattern and knitting the garment: I like to design and illustrate a beautiful booklet that captures the spirit of my idea, and this year I wanted to add some other new items to my shop to complement those. I’m in a season of preparation, as I hope to launch the patterns and all these goodies at the start of next month, there’s a frenzy of finishing, photographing, and plenty of excitement as deliveries of cute new things arrive at my studio.
In my latest podcast, you can watch as I begin work on the cover designs for these pattern booklets, which I’m painting in gouache over the course of a few weeks. I like to take it slowly with painting, stepping away and revisiting a piece several times over rather than sitting with it for long stretches of time.
Coming towards the end of a big project like this always feels like a difficult transition. I used to think that I should feel elated, but now I’m familiar with my process I expect and know it feels more like grief than joy. This particular project has, as I feared it might, come to an end just as another big life transition is happening: I’m preparing to move house, this time to a different part of the country, which brings with it a whole host of complicated feelings, elation mixed with grief, not to mention a deep level of chaos and logistical stress!
More on the relocation soon, I promise. For now I’m focusing my work and creative energies on this pattern launch as much as I can, so I don’t miss the moment I’ve been working towards for a year because I’m too busy being stressed about something else. Taking the time to prepare, finish, photograph and getting ready to share something I’ve poured my heart and soul into the last few months is a joy I want to savour the last moments of.
And as I do those final preparations, stumbling upon my mushroom muses in real life for the first time felt like a really good omen. Mushrooms are such a fleeting presence: emerging seemingly out of nowhere after the rain, and just a day later keeling over and looking frankly quite gross. Catching these friends at their most triumphant reminded me to savour the last bits of work on this beloved project, before I’m ready to let it go out into the world.
Thank you for reading, supporting and sharing my work - I couldn’t do it without you!
Katie (and Jack)
P.S. Winter greetings cards are now in my shop, in case you’re organised and ready to think about such things.
P.P.S. Episode 49 of The Green Bean Podcast is out today!
yay! Finally you found them ! :) I am very happy for you. Indeed, they must be a happy omen. So don't worry too much because lots of new things and discovers are waiting for you! You will see, your new designs will be very well received. Good week !