Saturday, August 13, 2011

forest gold...

hiding

soon enough, when the first rains of autumn begin to come in, treasure hunters will take to the forest, slipping through the trees and moving silently over rich beds of moss, in search of gold. there are several types of treasure that haunts the minds of these foragers, but one in particular captivates the mind of many: the pacific golden chanterelle. this ruffled beauty pokes up through the mossy duff, often blending deftly into the dry leaves of autumn. lucky hunters hoard their patches, filling up buckets to sell, or just take home and feast upon. it is a bit early in the season, but i lucked out and found two. oh wait, is that because i stitched them up myself?

pacific golden chanterelles

some of you may remember the white chanterelles i stitched last fall. but as mentioned, the golden chanterelles are often considered the real prize around here. with my lovely golden fabric dyed with yellow onion skins, i thought i had a good fit to stitch a few up. these are hand stitched with both linen and silk, giving them a wonderful glow such as those real prizes of the forest. and whether you are a mushroom hunter or not, i think they are a great reminder (and less perishable!) of the treasures to be found in the woods. this pair is in the shop now. i still have the white pair; they sit on a shelf with other nature paraphernalia (real and not so real). i might have to stitch some more of those to put in the shop too.

chanterelles

and i can't wait until there is real gold to be found amongst the trees, bounty to be cooked up for dinner! along with chanterelles i love tasty puffballs and giant cauliflower mushrooms. i hope to each year become comfortable one or two more 'shrooms that are edible - if i am lucky this year i would like to find some boletes. if i can pry open the notoriously tight lips of some seasoned foragers, we'll see what else can be found!

10 comments:

Flaming Nora said...

Well you had me fooled! I could eat they right up. Beautiful work so fine and detailed. Love the roots.

Iferia said...

Amazing how real they look! It's just wonderful when you can look for your dinner in the woods. I had the pleasure of doing this once in Sweden, looking for mushrooms and then cooking up a great meal with it. That's heaven! Nature is really wonderful!!!

Brittan said...

eeeee!!! i love chanterelle! these are so fantastic, kristy!!! i hope you find many, many, many!!!
xo

Mona said...

Hee, yoa almost had me fooled with the first picture. Great work.
Actually, we're having chantarelles for dinner tonight. They are my favourite mushroom to eat! Hope you find some too :)

Maggie said...

I had to do a double take with the second photo--you so perfectly captured the mushrooms that I wasn't sure if they were stitched or real! Beautiful work.
I've always wanted to be more comfortable with harvesting mushrooms from the woods. Good luck with your goal this Fall.

Unknown said...

These are perfectly beautiful.. I am delighted to be the announcer to all you poor people..these are no longer in the shop..they are mine...)
YAY!!! Chanterelle LOVE!

Els said...

Wow these chanterelles look so good !!!

Margie Oomen said...

those look better than real
but not sure how they would taste:)

Tara said...

So the shrooms in the first photo are yours? They are beautiful. I have thought for awhile that your softies were something special. The use of your hand dyed fabric makes them even more special and unique.

Claudia said...

W O N D E R F U L!