Unraveling

Orenstein is such a breezy, funny writer, its easy to forget shes an important thinker too.PeopleIn this lively, funny memoir, Peggy Orensteinsets out to make a sweater from scratchshearing, spinning, dyeing wooland 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. Othersstress-baked. Peggy Orenstein, a lifelong knitter, went just alittlefurther.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 awomanin a culture that by turns ignores and disdains them. What she didnt expect was a journey into some of the major issues of our time: climate anxiety, racial justice, womens 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, andmakerand teaches us all something about creativity and connection.