Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

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

4 reviews

kristinj1's review

emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This was a really cool story, and I appreciated hearing someone else's perspective of living through the pandemic. However, there were a lot of emotional triggers in this one for me! The worry about raising a child, that child growing up and going away to college, being an empty nester and relying on your relationship with your partner, eventually growing old with your partner and what comes from that, the aging of your own parents, the existential crisis of climate change, so many things. I have to remind myself that she wrote this in the first half of the pandemic, when things felt very, very different than they do now. But maybe that's the way things actually are? Maybe the way things are in this stage of the pandemic is just allowing us to ignore and cover up the truth of how hard the world is.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Eating disorder, Grief, and Dementia

library_goth's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

A powerful memoir about the fibers that weave us together. Peggy Orenstein perfectly encapsulates the anxiety and chaos of climate change, 2020, aging, loss, and everything in between, all through an informative lens of fiber arts, their history, and how our clothes are made.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia

Moderate: Eating disorder and Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Fire/Fire injury

asolis's review

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

In one layer, this memoir tracks the author's extreme quarantine-era project, described in the title. Along the way, she includes fascinating research about the history of textile and dyes, the garment industry and the environment, feminist and labor movements, and more. And on top of that, she layers many reflections prompted by what 2020 slung at us. Somehow, it all fits comfortably into this relatively short book, in an often humorous and relatable style. You don't have to know or care about knitting to be fascinated by this book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Minor: Racism, Antisemitism, Eating disorder, Infertility, Police brutality, Misogyny, Sexism, and Slavery

alixcallender's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.75

If fiber craft occupies a big bright corner of your heart (like it does mine), pick up a copy of this book. Peggy Orenstein’s perspective as a curious and determined amateur tackling the process of sheep-to-sweater knitting is equally delightful, emotional, thoughtful, and funny. 

She intersects her own experience of shearing, cleaning, carding, spinning, dyeing, designing, AND knitting this sweater with the history of wool textiles, “women’s work,” the evolutionary relationship of sheep and humans, the ecological plight of modern fast fashion, and so much more - all while unpacking the unpredictable vagaries of motherhood, aging (as a woman), losing your parents, climate change, and lockdown. 

I absolutely adored this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Animal cruelty, and Sexism

Minor: Racism and Eating disorder