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The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater by Alanna Okun
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The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater

Essays on Crafting

$20.99

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Narrator Alanna Okun

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Length 4 hours 35 minutes
Language English
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"Okun's narration, lightly poignant and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, enhances her witty writing style...Listeners need not be knitters or crafters to relish Okun's delightful, self-deprecating stories." — AudioFile Magazine

BuzzFeed: The 33 Most Exciting New Books of 2018

This program is read by the author

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater is journalist Alanna Okun's cozy audiobook 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.

In The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater Okun lays herself bare and takes listeners 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).

Alanna Okun's newest audiobook will speak to anyone who has ever said to themselves, or to everyone within earshot, “I made that.”

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, and The Hairpin, and appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR, and many other local and national television and radio programs. Alanna lives in Brooklyn with her pet snail and a lot of yarn.

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, and The Hairpin, and appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR, and many other local and national television and radio programs. Alanna lives in Brooklyn with her pet snail and a lot of yarn.

Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks when you make the switch!

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You pick the number of credits, your recipient picks the audiobooks, and your local bookstore is supported by your purchase.

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Reviews

"Okun's narration, lightly poignant and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, enhances her witty writing style. ...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." -AudioFile

“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

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

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