An article was shared with me on Facebook recently and I instantly wanted to get involved. Because it was about an issue I believe in AND it involved knitting. What could be better?
The Pussy Hat Project is a fantastic initiative out of Los Angeles that has caught on quickly.
It was an idea that LA-based screenwriter Krista Suh, and her architect friend Jayna Zweiman, came up with to protest the comments made by President-Elect Donald Trump about grabbing women’s genitalia in an unsolicited manner. Suh had decided to go to the Jan 21, 2017 protest March on Washington on the occasion of Trump’s inauguration, and she knew it would be cold. So she decided to knit herself a hat. Through her discussion with Zweiman, they realized that if more women wore the same hat, and they could make a hat that symbolized their objection to Trump’s comments, it could be both a fashion and political statement.
Kat Coyle, the owner of The Little Knittery, the knitting store where this conversation was taking place, was fast to join in. She designed a hat for Suh and Zweiman that would be a play on Trump’s now-infamous pussy statement, would be easy enough for beginner knitters, and could be customized by more experienced knitters.
The pattern is available on the Pussyhat Project website and here’s a how-to video.
I loved this idea, but was really moved to action when I heard that my good friend Tracey Erin Smith, Artistic Director of Soulo Theatre, was herself going to the Jan 21 march. Tracey helps people transform stories from their lives into compelling solo theatre. She’s performed her own award-winning shows, and has taught and directed hundreds of creators in their shows developed under her mentorship. She’s also worked with unique groups of people to create a clergy show, a drag queen show, a drag king show, and now she’s taking a bus – what she’s affectionately calling the Soulomobile –– full of women to the march.
Tracey co-created the Soulo March on Washington project with Savoy Howe, founder of the Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club. Together, they will be leading the bus in creative exercises on the way down to Washington, then they’ll all participate in the march, and they’ll talk about their experience on the way home. They’ll be working toward creating a collective show about the entire trip, which will be presented at the Soulo Theatre Festival in 2017.
So I called Tracey and asked if she might like a pussy hat or two to come along for the ride to Washington. What, was she going to say no? ‘Course not.
I started knitting Tracey’s hat on the way to a friend’s house on New Year’s Eve. The project is small enough for what I affectionately call pocket knitting – you know, when you ride the subway and there’s just enough yarn and needles to fit into your coat pocket, so you can use your time while travelling to make something fun and useful.
I customized Tracey’s hat by adding layers of pink stripes. I used wool from Topsy Farms on Amherst Island, Ontario – one of my favourite sources for local yarn.
You can see how easy the hat is to knit – it’s just one rectangular piece, with ribbing on either end, folded in two and sewn up the sides. The pussy ears form when you pull it on your head. Here I am modelling Tracey’s hat by our Christmas tree.
And here is Tracey modelling her hat.
It was so easy and fast to knit, I instantly got knitting a second hat for Savoy.
I like this photo that my wife, Claire, took, because of the sign on the subway door. It is something Mr. Trump would do well to heed. Be safe and considerate, please.
This time, to customize Savoy’s hat, I used my own Symmetricats design from a pillow I did for one of the A Needle Pulling Thread magazine issues a few years ago.
Here is my Symmetricats pillow design:
And here is the Pussy Hat variation, not yet sewn up the sides, and all in pink, of course:
And here's Savoy, wearing it.
One thing about knitting these hats – they’re hard to stop knitting once you get started.
I knitted a third hat using a simple checker pattern.
This one will be a give-away on the Soulomobile ride down to Washington.
I’ll be sure to post photos of Tracey, Savoy and hopefully more women wearing their pussy hats during their protest of Trump’s inauguration on January 21, 2017 (the Huffington Post says that thousands have already been knitted around the globe). You can tweet and Instagram about your pussy hat with the hashtag #pussyhat.
Meanwhile, get knitting! There are pussy hats (and protests) to be made.