The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater: Essays on Crafting

by Alanna Okun

Overview

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater is a memoir about life truths learned through crafting.

People who craft know things. They know how to transform piles of yarn into sweaters and scarves. They know that some items, like woolen bikini tops, are better left unknit. They know that making a hat for a newborn baby isn’t just about crafting something small but appreciating the beginnings of life, which sometimes helps make peace with the endings. They know that if you knit your boyfriend a sweater, your relationship will most likely be over before the last stitch.

Alanna Okun knows that crafting keeps her anxiety at bay. She knows that no one will ever be as good a knitting teacher as her beloved grandmother. And she knows that even when we can’t control anything else, we can at least control the sticks, string, and fabric right in front of us.

Okun lays herself bare and takes readers into the parts of themselves they often keep hidden. Yet at the same time she finds humor in the daily indignities all crafters must face (like when you catch the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome and can’t possibly finish the second in a pair). Okun has written a book that will speak to anyone who has said to themselves, or to everyone within earshot, “I made that.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250095633
Publisher:	Flatiron Books
Publication date:	03/19/2019
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,164,924
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

ALANNA OKUN is a writer, editor, and crafter. She's currently a senior editor at Racked, and has written for publications such as BuzzFeed, Brooklyn Magazine, Apartment Therapy, and The Hairpin, and has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, NPR, and many other local and national television and radio programs. Alanna lives in Brooklyn with a lot of yarn.

Table of Contents

Casting On 1

First Rows 5

Not Just for Grandmas 17

Missed Connections 29

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater 33

Frogging, or How to Start Over 55

The Best Places to Knit, Ranked 61

Moving the Needle 65

Okay, So Here Is Why Summer Is the Best Time for Knitting 77

Learning Curves 81

Sixish 95

Things I Do Wrong, at Least as Far as Crafting Is Concerned 105

Knitting Myself Back Together 109

Things I Am Better at Because of Crafting 123

Body Talk 125

Words They Need to Invent for Crafters 137

Second Sock Syndrome 139

Things I've Used Knitting Needles for Besides Knitting 149

Bad Habits 151

An Open Letter to Crochet 163

Fiberspace 165

Tools of the Trade 179

Small, Surprising Things That Remind Me of the Feeling of Crafting 191

Homemaking 193

Pieces 205

The Weather Was Better Before You Woke Up 219

Casting Off 229

Acknowledgments 241

Editorial Reviews

BuzzFeed: The 33 Most Exciting New Books of 2018
Bustle: The Essay Collection You’ll Want To Share With All Your Best Friends
Goodreads: Most Popular Books Published in March 2018


“It is reminiscent of Nora Ephron—charming and lighthearted, but bright with vulnerability.” —The New Republic

“[A] hilariously quirky and heartwarming essay collection…a book you’ll underline and highlight and read to pieces—and then immediately want to share with all of your best friends.” —Bustle

“Okun’s writing is entertaining, often funny, and relatable even to noncrafters.”
—BuzzFeed

“Relatable, witty, and comforting, this collection has a little something for creators of all types.”
—Audible

“Through her essays, Okun discusses her deep connection to crafting in a way that brings meaning to every handmade object, and will certainly inspire all of your future projects.”
—Apartment Therapy

“Often funny…and always deeply felt…”
—Nylon

“You don’t have to actually care about knitting to be completely engrossed in The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater…”
—Metro

“This book draws you in just as an oversized, hand-knitted, and unexpectedly soft sweater does. Alanna is so sharp and so charming and so genuinely warm that, regardless of your prior experience with crafting, you will only want to put down this book if it is to make something yourself—and you know Alanna would approve.”
—Katie Heaney, author of Never Have I Ever, Dear Emma, and Public Relations

“Alanna Okun’s poignant, hilarious, and infinitely instructional essays about crafting will help you have a more beautiful life, whether you ever pick up a pair of knitting needles or not.”
—Jen Doll, author of Save the Date

From the Publisher

Alanna Okun breezily narrates her own collection of essays, ostensibly about knitting and other crafts but actually about the author’s young adult anxieties and triumphs. Okun’s narration, lightly poignant and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, enhances her witty writing style. Her cheerful pace is marred only by occasional mispronunciations as she describes the power to be discovered by making something out of a pile of raw materials. Listeners need not be knitters or crafters to relish Okun’s delightful, self-deprecating stories, but personal experience makes her tales more relatable. If you have unfinished projects stashed under your bed, you’ll probably laugh out loud at this audiobook. And if you don’t, this jaunty memoir might inspire you to buy a skein. Or two. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2018 - AudioFile

Alanna Okun breezily narrates her own collection of essays, ostensibly about knitting and other crafts but actually about the author’s young adult anxieties and triumphs. Okun’s narration, lightly poignant and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, enhances her witty writing style. Her cheerful pace is marred only by occasional mispronunciations as she describes the power to be discovered by making something out of a pile of raw materials. Listeners need not be knitters or crafters to relish Okun’s delightful, self-deprecating stories, but personal experience makes her tales more relatable. If you have unfinished projects stashed under your bed, you’ll probably laugh out loud at this audiobook. And if you don’t, this jaunty memoir might inspire you to buy a skein. Or two. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2018 - AudioFile