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Knitting as Protest: The Pussyhat Project

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Pussyhat Project knits together protest and politics.Regardless of your political leanings, I think it’s always cool to see handcrafts used as part of a political statement, and that’s happening in a big way with the Pussyhat Project.

The idea is to outfit as many women as possible in cat-ear hats for the Women’s March on Washington happening on January 21. The project is the brainchild of Kat Coyle, Kristen Suh and Jayna Zweiman, and the pattern — a simple flat hat with ribbed edges — quickly became one of the most popular patterns of the year at Ravelry.

I knit one, and I have to say I completely misinterpreted the directions and messed it up pretty royally (I didn’t get that the hat was supposed to be folded in half and only seamed along the sides, so I ended up making my own version with a three-needle bind off at the top). I’m planning to make some more — a friend requested a blue one — but I think I’ll do a normal knit in the round pattern with a bound off top instead of working it the way the pattern suggests.

The idea behind the hats is great, combining traditional women’s work and the color pink and a play on a word the president-elect has used to refer to women in a derogatory way, in a way reclaiming it as our own.

Even if you aren’t going to Washington or don’t know anyone who is, you can mail your hats to D.C. if you get them done in time. There are crocheted and sewn versions of the pattern as well. I hope to get a few more done and pass them on to whoever can use them from my state’s marching delegation. And I might make one for myself, too.

Have you knit any pussyhats? I’d love to hear about it.

[Illustration by Aurora Lady, via Pussyhat Project.]

Comments

  1. I love your blog but I hate that u r promoting igly on president elect I have to take my name off your list my political preference is mine the vote has been cast and people won’t let the country heal

  2. I knit four hats in various shades of stashed pink yarn and sent them off a few days after the holidays.

  3. I agree with the comment by Marina. I don’t believe a blog, unless it is political in nature, is the forum for political discourse. If I want politics, I will go to a blog dedicated to that. Marina is right, it is time to come together and support the candidate the people elected.

  4. Does anyone know where I can find this pattern in crochet?

    [email protected]

    P.s. – Is craftgossip promoting a A certain political idea or are they just posting a pattern for a cute hat?
    Also, the pussy hat project is about women’s rights not a political agenda.

  5. My daughter is 10 and a very artistic soul. She paints, draws and creates worlds of her own. All political affiliations aside she enjoys wearing her kitty hat (for the last 4 years) because she is different. Much like other organizations that take common place things that already exist, this is making a fun light hearted child’s hat into an adult political statement.

    People feel very strongly about their Political beliefs and I would never send my daughter or anyone else’s child out in something that can be misconstrued into a statement they themselves are not old enough to make. The consequences of this emotionally upsetting someone who does not know how to treat children is too big a risk after the things I’ve seen on both sides after this election.

    Its sad that Adults are so busy trying to make their point they are willing to use anything to empower themselves while taking away the symbolism that may already be empowering another group, in this case, children.

    I support the idea, I support the feeling behind all of this, I just wish there had been more thought into the expression of it.

  8. This country needs to heal and unite. This is just another way of tearing it apart. Spot promoting this behavior.

  9. It’s unacceptable for Peotus to say pussy but ok to wear a pussyhat. Look at my pussyhat. Do not say it. Its like a dare. Hypocrisy knows no bounds.

  10. Marina, Vivianne–is it because it’s political or because it’s not aligned with your own political views?

    I’m glad to see this post; I hadn’t heard of it before. I’m not a fast enough knitter to participate at this point, but I can sew a fleece hat fast enough and I see there are sewing (and crochet, Aubrey) patterns at the site as well. Thanks!

  11. I made one to send to a young cousin, I knit it in the round with 92 stitches, using 2 circs with 46 sts on each circ, with 4-1/4″ of ribbing, and 4″ of stockinette. Then I just Kitchenered together the stitches from the two needles. LIke a big wide sock toe. It worked very well.

  12. Stick to what you are here on this blog for-entertaining. If we want political views, it will not be from you or anyone else in the entertainment field.
    Doesn’t take much imagination to jump on another’s bandwagon.

  18. As a crafter and a woman, this kind of crap encourages and energizes me. Thank you so much!

Have you read?

Easy Knit Baskets to Use All Your Stash

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts. 

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts. 

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects. 

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version. 

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want. 

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do. 

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like. 

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.