Stories from the Matrix - Book Review by V

 

"My textile book collection consists almost entirely of technical 'how-to' sort of volumes:  pattern books, books with weaving drafts or knitting charts in, and the odd bit of textile history.  Many of these are aspirational books; things that I really want to somehow find the time to explore, to learn.  Stories from the Matrix is unlike anything else I own, and is perhaps not something I'd ordinarily choose, as my shelf space is limited and I tend to try and get the best bang for my buck space-wise by only filling it with books that set out to show me how to do something.

After reading Stories from the Matrix though, I think that tactic was a mistake.  I decided to give this a try as I've seen Laura speak a couple of times, and read plenty of her writing, and find her stories and her perspective interesting, as well as being aware she is an excellent weaver and really applied herself to learning to weave quality pieces in an ergonomic and efficient way.  I expected this book to be heavy on the storytelling and the philosophy, and it certainly doesn't disappoint in those respects, but more than that, it's been surprisingly educational and enlightening about technical weaving topics too.

The essays are in no particular order, giving the book a companionable air, like you are hanging out with Laura in her studio while she weaves, discussing whatever comes to mind, from her travels when learning to weave, musings on how our ancient ancestors must have discovered string and yarn to fascinating technical details on weaving itself.  While the book didn't market itself as being one that would teach me about weaving and enable me to be a better and more efficient weaver, there are enough tips and tricks in there that I think it's going to be every bit as deserving of shelf space as my collection of how-to books.  There were several point during reading I found myself mimicking hand motions that Laura described to help myself understand what she was explaining, which likely earned me a few looks in the waiting room I was in at the time!

For those who don't weave, there will be a few essays which are slightly too technical or hard to follow, but the accompanying pictures help clarify the points being made, and many of the stories are widely applicable to all sorts of crafts and other skills, the weaving is just the medium of telling the story rather than the point of the story itself.  I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the process of creating things with their hands and who would like to take a step back and examine the process from a wider perspective.  Laura's status as an excellent weaver and teacher as well as a perpetual student, always learning, as well as her innate storytelling ability make this book a wonderful read, either to dip into and read one essay at a time, or to read cover to cover if you can't wait to get more of her insights.

This book, while not fitting into one simple category on my shelves, happily straddles them all, covering technical points, historical and modern methods, and also nicely fits into my 'aspirational' category as a reminder to always be open to improving my methods, learning new things, and seeing old things from new perspectives.'