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

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