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

Like many people in 2020, Orenstein (Boys & Sex) found comfort in crafting. During the wave of plenty of unexpected free time, she decided to fulfill a longtime aspiration: to create a sweater from scratch. Already a knitter, Orenstein wanted to take her hobby deeper and began the process by first shearing a sheep for wool. Fleece in hand, she learned the art of spinning it into yarn and experimented with dyeing before creating her own pattern for a sweater. Orenstein shares the successes and obstacles she experienced along the way. She also explored the history of textiles and garment manufacturing, the science of color, and the contemporary environmental and social impacts of the fashion industry, among other topics. The process helped her cope with her personal life, including the effects of the pandemic shutdown, such as being a mother to a college-bound daughter and facing the recent death of her mother.