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A review by monalyisha
Unraveling: What I Learned about Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Orenstein
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
During the pandemic, Orenstein kept busy learning to make a sweater from scratch: from shearing the sheep, to spinning and dyeing the yarn, ending with designing and knitting the pattern. I was expecting the tale to be slightly stressful due to the time during which it was written; I wasn’t expecting the story to focus so much on climate change. I’m glad it did, despite the resulting heaviness.
Californian wildfires rage, sheep go unshorn, microfibers are shed; the writer and her readers worry, worry, worry. Still, there’s resourcefulness, hope, and connection. There’s also grief - as Peggy mourns the recent death of her mother (who taught her to knit) and comes to terms with her father’s worsening dementia. I was impressed by the balance of light topics and dark.
My favorite section was entitled “I Would Dye 4 U.” Not only did it cause me to get into a seriously nostalgic musical groove (Question: how long has it been since YOU’VE listened to “When Doves Cry”? Answer: too long) — but it convinced me to bump up some books about color closer to the top of my TBR.
I’d never read Orenstein before. I’m impressed by her. I think she’s a sharp, thorough, and clever writer. I also get the feeling that she’s a pretty cool mom, partner, and friend.
Californian wildfires rage, sheep go unshorn, microfibers are shed; the writer and her readers worry, worry, worry. Still, there’s resourcefulness, hope, and connection. There’s also grief - as Peggy mourns the recent death of her mother (who taught her to knit) and comes to terms with her father’s worsening dementia. I was impressed by the balance of light topics and dark.
My favorite section was entitled “I Would Dye 4 U.” Not only did it cause me to get into a seriously nostalgic musical groove (Question: how long has it been since YOU’VE listened to “When Doves Cry”? Answer: too long) — but it convinced me to bump up some books about color closer to the top of my TBR.
I’d never read Orenstein before. I’m impressed by her. I think she’s a sharp, thorough, and clever writer. I also get the feeling that she’s a pretty cool mom, partner, and friend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Dementia, Death of parent, and Grief