Unraveling: What I Learned about Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater -- Peggy Orenstein, Hardcover

"Orenstein is such a breezy, funny writer, it's easy to forget she's an important thinker too."--People

In this lively, funny memoir, Peggy Orenstein sets out to make a sweater from scratch--shearing, spinning, dyeing wool--and in the process discovers how we find our deepest selves through craft. Orenstein spins a yarn that will appeal to everyone.

The COVID pandemic propelled many people to change their lives in ways large and small. Some adopted puppies. Others stress-baked. Peggy Orenstein, a lifelong knitter, went just a little further. To keep herself engaged and cope with a series of seismic shifts in family life, she set out to make a garment from the ground up: learning to shear sheep, spin and dye yarn, then knitting herself a sweater.

Orenstein hoped the project would help her process not just wool but her grief over the recent death of her mother and the decline of her dad, the impending departure of her college-bound daughter, and other thorny issues of aging as a woman in a culture that by turns ignores and disdains them. What she didn't expect was a journey into some of the major issues of our time: climate anxiety, racial justice, women's rights, the impact of technology, sustainability, and, ultimately, the meaning of home.

With her wry voice, sharp intelligence, and exuberant honesty, Orenstein shares her year-long journey as daughter, wife, mother, writer, and maker--and teaches us all something about creativity and connection.

Author: Peggy Orenstein
Publisher: Harper
Published: 01/24/2023
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 9.26h x 6.25w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9780063081727

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 08/01/2022 pg. 15
Publishers Weekly 10/31/2022
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2022
Library Journal 12/01/2022 pg. 112
Booklist 01/01/2023 pg. 18