I had the pleasure of joining a Forest Court event at the end of 2022. One of my favorite humans was leading an investigation into acorns and the process of making acorn flour, as well as using the leech water to make dye. We added skeins of cotton and wool to the dyepot, as well as some Cheviot wool roving. After a brief simmer, iron mordant was added and the color shifted to a lovely deep lilac brown.
After a few snacks of acorn cakes, we embarked on a woods walk. Another dear friend guided us through tree identification and I noticed a surprising amount of lichens around - much of it was no longer attached (thus no longer functioning as a decomposer). Once upon a time I had heard of a lichen that would produce a vibrant magenta dye. I had no idea what kind of lichen that was, but it couldn't hurt to collect what was there. I brought it home, washed it, and began fermenting it in an ammonia solution.
After about 6 weeks, I had a dye stock that appeared to be a deep, reddish brown. Now just to be brave enough to see what the tannins in the lichen will do to bare fiber!
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