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

"Orenstein is such a breezy, funny writer, it's easy to forget she's an important thinker too."—PeopleIn 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 & small. Some adopted puppies. Others stress-baked. Peggy Orenstein, a lifelong knitter, went just a little further. To keep herself engaged & 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 & 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 & the decline of her dad, the impending departure of her college-bound daughter, & other thorny issues of aging as a woman in a culture that by turns ignores & 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, & , ultimately, the meaning of home.With her wry voice, sharp intelligence, & exuberant honesty, Orenstein shares her year-long journey as daughter, wife, mother, writer, & maker—& teaches us all something about creativity & connection. PEGGY ORENSTEIN is the New York Times bestselling author of Boys & Sex, Don’t Call Me Princess, Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Waiting for Daisy, Flux, & Schoolgirls. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, she has written for the Washington Post, the Atlantic, AFAR, the New Yorker, & other publications, & has contributed commentary to NPR’s All Things Considered & the PBS NewsHour. "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. The author 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