Dyeing with Mushrooms ... the saga begins

I had never considered this idea until one of the ladies at a 2nd Saturday spinning meeting and dye party mentioned that one of our mutual friends said you could extract some kind of color from virtually any mushroom. There are lots of mushrooms popping up all over the place so I decided to give it a try. I'm using gallon plastic jugs (that used to contain vinegar) that I fill about 1/4 full with mushrooms and then add a mixture of 3 parts water to 1 part household ammonia. I am on my 3rd jug at this point (set one last week, another this Friday and one today) and the pattern has been the same with all three. First the liquid starts out translucent tan in color and is very dark within a few hours. This is what is shown in the pictures below. I can literally see the liquid turning darker as something is extracted out of the mushrooms; I am hoping that it is color. Tomorrow I hope to dye with the one that has been sitting for about a week. Stay tuned for developments...