The species from my windfall lichen walk that I've been able to (sort of) identify so far!1
Text transcription (I know it's tiny)
Upside-down shelf fungus
Trametes2
(not good for dye)
(it's pretty though)
Top center frilly pile
Evernia prunastri
(oakmoss)
- bright orchid purple (ammonia soak)
- acid can be used to modify purples-to-reds
Top right frilly pile
Ramalina (?)
- pink? I am not seeing great resources for this
- ammonia soak
Some sticks with yellow lichen
Xanthoria
- yellow (boiling water), adding acid can apparently make a puce/light plum
- no I will not be trying with this little lichen
Flattish blue-green thalli
Parmelia spp. (likely sulcata)
- yellow to brown (boiling water)
- maybe some kind of purple to pink (ammonia soak)
- these colors seem to depend on the specific species, and:
- I don't know the species
- it's likely not in any dye books anyway
(so I'll try both)
Methods
Ammonia
- soak lichen in a 2:1 water:household ammonia solution for up to 4 months in a dark place
- oxygen is needed for the dye so shake the jar regularly
- dye adheres to wool without a mordant (substantive dye). apparently tin mordant makes it more colorfast and redder but that's decently toxic so I won't.
- soak wool in the colored liquid without adding heat. dyeing several times will make the color more intense.
- apparently you can add more ammonia + water to the jar to make more dye after the first bath is used
Boiling water
- gently bring lichen to a boil in lightly acidic water, then simmer 3 hours. turn off heat and steep overnight.
- add wetted wool, bring back to boiling, simmer until the color is right.
If you're interested in more information on lichen dyeing, someone has put the full text of Lichens for Vegetable Dyeing by Eileen M. Bolton online. It's a pretty good resource, very UK focused with some suggestions of US/North American species substitutions. Note that lichens, including some included in her book, can be anywhere from very rare to endangered, so be very careful when harvesting. All of the above samples were picked up as windfall either directly off the ground or off of branches that had fallen.
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if anyone in the greater Seattle area has a line on a dissecting microscope I can borrow for this, pretty please I would love it
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to be clear, Trametes are polypore fungi, not lichens. but like I said, it's pretty
