Day 94: Platismatia glauca, known commonly as Ragbag for its soft feel, is in its early growth phase a light olive green (top). As the lichen matures, its colour fades to a bluish-grey (bottom), and in the later part of its life cycle, develops a pinkish tinge. It is one of the lichens commonly used in the dyeing of handspun wool and is said to give shades from light tan to brown. Although I've never dyed any of my handspun yarn, Platismatia glauca is quite abundant in our area and would be one of the options I would consider. It would be interesting to experiment with it in different growth phases to see if the dye quality changes with the colour of the lichens used.
These specimens were windfall, literally. The storm which took out my power a few days ago left my yard littered with small branches and a few rather large ones. I doubt I could harvest enough Platismatia from them to dye a skein of wool, although it's a tempting thought.
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