
A variety of different colors can be derived from fungi.
by Erin Raymond
Throughout written history, humans have documented the use of plants, insects and lichens in the coloring of natural fibers. For whatever reason fungal dyes seem to be missing from the records of mankind, possibly lost in the many voluminous accounts of bygone times, not garnering the attention of translators, or maybe, being the knowledge of peoples with no written language at all, lost in the ether. It seems inconceivable that somewhere throughout time these secrets were not known by someone, yet culture, geography and time have no doubt played a roll in concealing this knowledge from the modern practitioner.
It wasn’t until the 1960’s that books were published, at least in the english language where we can begin to learn the ways of fugal dyes. It was Miriam C. Rice who’s teaching was the driving force in the use of fungi for dyeing, Here is a link to a short History of Mushroom Dyeing.
This, and upcoming dye posts, are a general overview of the dye process. There are a number of excellent resources with more information that are listed at the end of this post.
Unless otherwise stated, these posts describe the process for wool yarn. Different types of animal fibers can also be used. I will go into these further in a later post.
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