I have a couple of lichen dyeing books by Karen Diadick Casselman in my library and have always been intrigued by this traditional method of extracting colour.
I wasn't sure if the type we have around here would be useful (they are very dull-coloured, forest-floor type lichens, not the bright, colourful kind that grow on rocks or roofs), but on our walk tonight I collected some and then came home and tried to identify them using my Lichens, Mosses & Ferns of Northwest North America book*:
If they are indeed Peltigera species, my dyeing books tell me that I can probably get pink out of them. Pink! How exciting! All I have to do is start an elaborate 16-week ammonia fermentation process to extract the dye. Oh boy.
Or, I can settle for a boiling water extraction method that is much faster but will probably yield slightly more boring colours.
Which one should I try?
* Fun fact: I actually worked for one of the co-authors of that book (Dale Vitt) for two summers while I was in university. It was probably the best job I've ever had. I helped one of his grad students in her reclamation experiments at a commercial peat bog. I really miss it. That's probably why these lichens intrigue me so much!
More links about lichen dyeing:
http://44clovers.blogspot.ca/2014/01/a-story-of-3-lichens.html
Australian article about lichen dyes throughout history
Cornell University article about lichen dyeing
Turkey Red Journal article about lichen dyeing using various methods
Home Dyeing With Natural Dyes booklet from 1935
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