by: Gretchen

Plenty of Pink!

January 16th, 2017 by Gretchen | Posted in Events, General News |

Pink yarn is flying off the shelves here like never before!

If you haven’t already heard, there’s a national knitting (and crocheting and sewing) project underway in support of the Women’s March on Washington this Saturday, January 21st. Organizers of the Pussyhat Project are hoping to have over one million pink hats ready for the Women’s March, and sister marches happening in cities all over the world. Download the free patterns here. The stated mission of the project is to:

Provide the people of the Women’s March on Washington D.C. a means to make a unique collective visual statement which will help activists be better heard.
Provide people who cannot physically be on the National Mall a way to represent themselves and support women’s rights.

The project’s statement on the “Power of the Handmade” rang especially true and close to my heart:

Knitting and crochet are traditionally women’s crafts, and we want to celebrate these arts. Knitting circles are sometimes scoffed at as frivolous “gossiping circles,” when really, these circles are powerful gatherings of women, a safe space to talk, a place where women support women. Anything handmade shows a level of care, and we care about women’s rights, so it is appropriate to symbolize this march with a handmade item, one made with a skill that has been passed down from woman to woman for generations.

One of the things we’ve loved seeing in the shop is all the different variations people are coming up with, from the original version in a dozen different yarns and shades of shocking pink to ruby red to fiery coral, to hats with cables, earflaps, multiple yarns knit together – you name it and someone is knitting it!

Visit the Pussyhat Project website for how and where to donate hats, or register your hats. Plus there’s a great hat tracker map showing all the hats happening around the world. As collective art projects go, this has got to be one of the largest ever, maybe time to call Guinness for a world record?

Designed by Kat Coyle, the simple pink cat-eared hat is very easy to make and can be done quickly in a variety of yarns – we’ve got a few favorites listed below that we still have in stock. If you get your yarn in the next few days there’s still plenty of time to make a hat or two, and there are drop off spots and marches all over the country where you can take the hats you make, or wear them as you march. Even after Saturday these hats will remain both “powerful and practical” – a great way to continue the visual message of support for women’s rights. So keep on knitting and sharing!

What about yours? Even if you can’t make it to a march, make a hat and share your creations on social media #pussyhat