Some time ago—almost three years ago, in fact—I posted about my plans to knit a silk wrap. I didn’t mention at the time that I have an immovable deadline for this project: the Fungi & Fibre Symposium to be held here in Pender Harbour in October of this year. At this fabulous event, participants wait until the final gala dinner on the last evening to show off their new mushroom-dyed finery—lovely garments, clever hats, lustrous silk ties—items to be admired and marveled at for the rest of the evening.
So I convinced myself that I could make a crocheted silk wrap, the construction of which is far beyond anything I’ve ever managed before; the same can be said for the yardage requirements (2,000+ yards of finely spun silk).
I don’t think I’ve spun quite enough yet, but the project can wait no longer. I must get started if I’m to complete it by October 22. The swatch is still a bit heavy, so I may have to move to a larger crochet hook, but at least I know I can make sense of the pattern.
I’ll report as the wrap takes shape. Wish me luck.
SHROOMWORKS 
I’m a mushroom/natural dyer of protein fibers. I am located in northeast Washington and was wondering if anyone would be interested in buying or trading for dried dying mushrooms. I’ve accumulated more than enough paxillus atromentosus or tapinella atrometosa and phaeolus schweinitzii. I’ve been finding the pax for about two weeks and found my first schweinitzii a couple days ago letting it mature a bit more. Last year I didn’t get one pax. It was very dry and forest fires. Bears tore up every stump on my property😞 Luckily the paxilllus are back!
It’s strange how the mushrooms vary from year to year. Here in the coastal rainforest I found maybe a total of four pax last year – it was also crunchy dry for much of the summer – but this year I’m finding them everywhere I turn! After a hot spell in May, we had rain every few days until a couple of weeks ago, and that seemed to have made all the difference. We also get tons of Phaeolus schweinitzii, even in seasons with less rainfall, and I’ve found I get the most popping colour if I harvest them when they’re young.
As for finding someone to trade or buy, I suggest you go to Alissa Allen’s website. She runs a “mushroom trading post” and you can probably find someone willing to take your excess off your hands.
We’re going full tilt organizing the Fungi & Fibre Symposium to be held here on the Sunshine Coast in October. We reached registration capacity (120) in May, but you might want to keep an eye open for the 2018 event – something not to be missed! Maybe we’ll meet in person one day and can compare notes.