The Hilda Game

Cruising on a contemporary swatch. Oscar is the leader. Monkey #3 holds it all together. Cornelius keeps one eye closed.

How to play:
1. Grab your little sister and the bravest inhabitants of the doll house
2. Hop on a magic carpet (preferably hand knit)
3. Flee to the woods

Nancie Mouse squeals with delight while Madame Squirrel leans into the wind. (contemporary magic carpet)

4. Build a shelter among tree roots (bark and moss are good roofing material)
5. Brew potion (flower petals and lichen preferred)
6. Serve in acorn caps
7. Savour the power

 

8. Stay
until Hilda
​ is beside herself
and threatens 
a. to tell your parents what terrible children you are,
or worse
b. to stop you watching I Dream of Jeannie, a TV series she finds shocking because of Barbara Eden's belly 
(and cleavage).

Letharia Vulpina, Evernia Prunastri, and other lichens I cannot reliably identify

​
​9. Get mad
when you grow breasts
​that do not look like Barbara Eden's --
​
​and the potion
stops working.

 10. Note the expression on your sister's face when you declare the Hilda Game dumb
and done.

(She is five years younger and believes in your power, 
or at least in your ability to transform a grey day with a babysitter
​into something else). 

11. Grow up and discover
that the potion had power after all.

​We just lacked knowledge
​and the equipment
to access it fully.

Now I have both.
 
So last week
when my pockets overflowed with wind-blown lichen
 after a somewhat scary storm,
​I knew what to do.
​
And where to find help.

Mosses, Lichens and Ferns of Northwest America by Dale H. Vitt, Janet E. marsh, Robin B. Bovey; Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1988 The Colour Cauldron by Su Grierson; Mill Books; Newmiln Farm, Tibbermore, Perth. PH1 1QN Scotland 1986; Lichens For Vegetable Dyeing by Eileen M. Bolton; Studio Books, Longacre Press LTD. 1960 Republished by Robin & Russ Handweavers, McMinnville, OR 1991

Lobaria Pulmonaria, wet and dry. aka Lungwort, Oak-Rag, Aikraw, Hazel-raw, Rags, Hazel, Crottle

The Colour Cauldron by Su Grierson; Mill Books; Newmiln Farm, Tibbermore, Perth. PH1 1QN Scotland page 178. Note her comment about this lichen being susceptible to air pollution. Gather only what has blown to the ground.

The Colour Cauldron by Su Grierson; Mill Books; Newmiln Farm, Tibbermore, Perth. PH1 1QN Scotland page 179

The balance was for the skeins of yarn.
I measured lichen by the hand full.
​
Note: according to Vitt, Marsh and Bovey, vulpinic acid, the prominent lichen acid present in Letharia vulpina (second from the left above), is in fact poisonous.  L. vulpina is also known as Wolf Lichen because it was apparently used in Europe to kill wolves by poisoning them with a rolled ball of Letharia, animal fat and nails. So wash your hands or use gloves for this one.

L. Pulminaria, on the other hand, was prepared as jelly and given to those suffering from pulmonary affections (Bolton).
Indeed, According to the Doctrine of Signatures, which was formulated in medieval times, this lichen was supposed to cure disorders of the lung....unfortunately for us, this cure does not seem to have had any foundation. (Vitt, Marsh, Bovey p.235)

2 and 3 ply cormo/rambouillet X ; I wish my camera and I could better capture the glowing glory of these colors

 
The question for today however (a question to which I do not yet have the answer),
is how to fill that interesting value gap between the rather blah yellow I got from a pot full of unidentified lichens scattered amidst the ones I knew, and the glorious russet reds from L. pulmonaria.
​  Exhaust bath perhaps?

ps. The lichens named here do not need a mordant on wool 
​
pps Please Note that lichens tend to be very slow growing. Limit your collecting to a tiny percentage of what you find in any given area and learn what you are gathering.

ppps. BOOKS: Truth be told, I have dyed with these three lichens before so though every day, every season, every batch is slightly different from every other, I mostly know what to do and what to expect. It is a treat, however, to open the covers of my old friends and read the names  out loud. If you, too, enjoy this or want to explore, learn and identify further, here are a few suggestions:
One of my favorites (currently out on loan so not part of this post) is 
Dyes from Lichens and Plants by Judy McGrath
Also, Craft of the Dyer by Karen Leigh (Diadick) Casselman,
​Casselman more recently wrote Lichen Dyes; the New Source Book, but I don't have a copy.

In addition, there are myriad natural dye books worth exploring which may or may not talk about lichens.
One way or the other, the Modern Natural Dyer, is on my xmas list.

ppps. Despite my cruel treatment, my sister Lyn 
​has grown into a glorious adult with magic and power of her own.

One last photo because I can't resist setting up value and color progressions -- on the loom and off. I also see that the graphite smudges on my drawing table have gotten out of hand again. Oops.