The last batch of lichen that a dear friend harvested for me has been used! Since I have a jar of lichen fermenting in ammonia on the deck I decided to try stovetop dyeing with lichen. I am so happy with the results!
Here you can see two bits of Lonk sheep fiber. The one on the back was stovetop dyed with white mushrooms. Made a nice light creamy beige color. Not really impressive. The front fiber, however, makes me very happy! It was dyed with lichen. I am pretty sure I mordanted with cold water alum then, after heating the lichen to simmering for an hour, letting it sit overnight to cool, then added the fiber. I brought the fiber up to simmering for an hour then shut off the heat and let it sit overnight. This glorious color is what I found when I pulled it out of the dyebath. I think I will try again and see if an exhaust bath works!
