#hypomyces lactifluorum

It turned out vivid! Not as pink as I may have wanted, but a fabulous salmon color nonetheless! The first photo is the out of the dyepot no rinse, the second is after rinsing. The small skein is a little spin I had to do because I forgot to grab a undyed sample before tossing it into the pot, it is unmordanted so did not take dye as well.

Then my purple onion skins may have been overcooked and I got a brown. •́⁠ ⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠,⁠•̀

Lobster mushroom (hypomyces lactifluorum) is a wonderful fungi used to create various natural colors for your textile and craft projects. It brings a range of pink, peach, orange and purple to protein fibers like wool & silk. Lobster mushrooms are pH sensitive, so you can expand your natural dye palette by adding household items like vinegar and baking soda to shift the color to an acidic or alkaline bath. If you are a fungi fanatic with a love of foraging, the lobster mushroom is ready to be picked! This tutorial will show you how to make dye from this mushroom, shift colors with pH modifiers, as well as the resulting color swatch samples on wool yarn.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction - Lobster mushroom

1:29 Lobster dye - IFFS 2022

2:27 Characteristics

4:31 pH sensitivity

4:50 Fiber prep

6:33 Ratios

7:16 Dye prep

8:25 Making skeins

9:49 Making dye

10:42 pH shift

13:18 Fiber results

15:39 Wrap up

17:48 Sneak peek of next tutorial

18:22 Bloopers

SUPPLY LIST

Lobster mushrooms

pH modifiers - lemon juice, vinegar, cream of tartar, baking soda, washing soda

pH neutral soap

Scale

Measuring spoon

Nut milk bag, cheesecloth or muslin

Pot with lid

Spoon

Tongs

Lobster Mushroom - Hypomyces lactifluorum

Some shroomy Bois I found hiking last fall. Been wanting to get out into woods too, this quarantine is driving me nuts. Miss seeing cool fungi (that's also the first lobster mushroom I've found!)

[Submitted by @winking-owl​]

How gorgeous!! Sorry it’s taken me a while to reply. I’m super jealous of that lobster mushroom - I’ve never actually found one myself, and really want to try one. 

Top photo looks like a variable oysterling (Crepidotus varibilis), though more golden than I’d expect, so perhaps not!

Second is definitely the distinctive rooting shank (Xerula radicata) - you can’t mistake that elegant stem. You got super lucky on edibles here; did you gather any of them?

Ate/cooked Lobster Mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum) for the first time last night. I added some Chanterelles and attempted to make a creamy vegan dish (sort of) resembling a chowder. I’ve never tasted lobster before but the texture is very firm and rich in a way I’d assume lobster would be.