Making Mistakes

 

fixing a threading error

Mistakes.

We all make them.  Yes, yes we do.  Sometimes they can be fixed.  Sometimes they cannot.  Sometimes we choose to NOT fix them.  Some are even made on 'purpose' so as to not offend the loom goddess.

That last one?  If you are making a 'mistake' on purpose, it's not actually a 'mistake' is it?

(scratches head, moves on)

So this week has been particularly fraught, for reasons.  I've needed more heavy duty pain killers to keep the pain manageable, but with that comes brain fog.  I mean, it's either brain fog from pain, or brain fog from pain killers, and frankly?  Less pain is less pain, so...

Anyway, I've been scrambling for the past 10 days and one of the things I was trying to stuff into my allotment of energy was threading the next warp.

Wednesday I finished threading and realised that oops, I had threads left over.

Well, shit.

Seems the first day I started threading was Monday afternoon, late in the day. I took a break and when I came back to it Tuesday morning, I wasn't paying enough attention and skipped over a design element.

Which means these towels either had to be completely re-threaded - because the mistake was right at the beginning, about 5 inches in - or I accepted that - once again - I am not perfect, and the only thing 'wrong' with the towels is that the design will not be symmetrical.

So that's it folks - once again Laura produces something with a built in 'flaw' in order to not offend the Loom Goddess.  My story, sticking to it.

I have a small amount of purple left to use, so I'm going to start with that and the towels will go to someone who adores the colour purple.  I know she won't care my towels are not 'perfect'.  They will still dry dishes.   And for her, the most important part is that they will be *purple*.

The rest of the warp will be woven with very pale colours.  There is some pale sage green and a pale cream.  Using a very light value weft on the white warp means the woven design will not be particularly visible.  They will still be asymmetrical, but it will be less obvious.

And they will still dry dishes.

Will I sell them?  Tough question.  The perfectionist in me says no.  The pragmatist in me says to call them 'seconds', even though there is nothing faulty in the cloth.  They are still perfectly functional as a towel.

So then what?  I don't need a dozen or so 'flawed' towels.  Another thought is to use them as a lagniappe or free gift.  That, I may follow up on because I have a book to sell.

Ah yes.  The book.  So, how goes the book?  Well, the print version may be more expensive than I'd hoped.  Let's face it, inflation has happened everywhere, including in the book industry.  Right now I'm looking at $48 Cdn for the soft cover book.  With shipping of $20, that would make $68 to purchase Stories from the Matrix from me, personally.  It would come signed, and the first purchasers would get a 'flawed' towel.  Potentially 16.  Won't know until I'm done.  OTOH, I have lots and lots of towels, so...

There are something like 3 dozen essays.  Some are 'stories', pure and simple.  Some are hints/tips.  Some are adventures that I have enjoyed, travels to 'exotic' places (for me - your definition of 'exotic' may differ!), some are musings on the craft.  As one person put it, they are the kinds of thoughts that Laura thinks about while she is at the loom.  And that is true.  It's as close to 'dumping my brain box out on the table' as I could honestly provide.  

The essays are ordered according to title.  A bit like trail mix.  You won't really know what's in the next handful until you start eating it.  I briefly thought about titling each essay Chapter One, like in the Dancing Wu Li Masters, but discarded the idea as having already been done, and much more appropriately given that book is about quantum physics.   

My editor did an in depth search and found some of the articles I've had published over the years, but also?  Places where people referred to work I'd done that they then used as inspiration.  Frankly, I had no clue and was very humbled when I saw the list.  She is including that list in the Appendix.

She is also inserting lots of photos of textiles I've woven over the years.  (Beware of sharing your entire photo album with an enthusiastic editor!)   As she pointed out, I have woven a life, so I needed to show some of what I've woven.  All of that means more pages, and more colour photos.  But if this is the last book I will write (I'm not saying never - look how that's worked out so far?) then maybe I do need to have some of my 'legacy' left behind?

Anyway - here's the deal.  

Email me laura at laurafry dot com with the subject lagniappe and say you are interested in purchasing a copy of Stories from the Matrix from me when they are ready.  I will keep a list and when the books arrive and get signed, I will contact each person in the order the email arrives and give right of first refusal.  Payment can then be arranged - either through my ko-fi store or through Paypal.

I will take orders until July 4 after which I will need to send the order to the printer.  The books generally take about 2 weeks to arrive after which we will package them up and get them to the post office, so orders should arrive before the end of July.

The lagniappe towel will be added to the book and what you get will be a surprise.  

If you are not in North America, I suggest ordering directly from blurb.com.  They appear to have printing facilities around the world so you won't have to pay international shipping.  You won't get a signed copy or a towel.  However, international shipping is almost as much as the book costs, so it's cheaper to order off their website if you are interested.  

Lastly, the book will also be available as a pdf at a lower price.

I've done a fair amount of rummaging looking at various books and this pricing is pretty comparable to other books of a similar nature - a niche topic for a niche market.  If it's out of your budget, I commiserate.  

So far I've had one interview about the book (and my life) and would be willing to be interviewed by others for podcasts or whatever.  I will be away next week, but home by the 4th of July.

I can be contacted by email while we are away and will answer as internet access allows.

This pre-publication offer will stand until July 4, 2023.  Actual price for the book MAY change once the files are completed and uploaded to blurb.com.  Remember, the only way to get a signed copy is to purchase directly from me during this pre-publication offering.