Knit a Melt the ICE hat!

Friends,
We are all heartbroken by the murders of peaceful protesters in Minnesota and other cities around the country; by the imprisonment of two- and five-year-olds; by the terror spread by ICE thugs at the behest of the Trump administration; by the ongoing erosion of our Constitutional rights. But we are not helpless.
We had Pussyhats in 2016. Now there is the Melt the ICE hat, perfect for keeping us warm at the next No Kings protests on March 28.
"In the 1940’s, Norwegians made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a form of visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country. Within two years, the Nazis made these protest hats illegal and punishable by law to wear, make, or distribute. As purveyors of traditional craft, we felt it appropriate to revisit this design." Needle and Skein, Minnesota
This pattern requires about 200 yards - 3.5 oz. of worsted weight yarn - and a size 8 circular needle. I have six 5 oz. skeins I will have at the Space this Wednesday evening. Feel free to bring your needles and join me in making a hat. There will be cookies.
Maria (she/they)

Patterns cost $5 donation. All proceeds from the sale of this pattern go to the immigrant aid agencies who will distribute the funds to those impacted by the actions of ICE.
Download the pattern here:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-hat
From Before Knitting Was Cool:
During World War II, knitting was also used as a tool for spy’s:
knitting served as a covert, decentralized form of resistance, allowing women to pass intelligence under the guise of patriotic, domestic work. Spies and resistance members, notably in Belgium, embedded coded messages into garments using techniques like dropped stitches (holes) or specific purl/knit combinations to track enemy troop and train movements.

• The Belgian Spy Network: Resistance operatives, often elderly women sitting near railway yards, recorded train traffic in their knitting, using different stitches to represent specific types of cargo or troop transport.
• Steganography in Stitches: Similar to codes in WWI, knots and stitch patterns were used to pass information to Allied intelligence.
• Hiding Documents: Spies, such as American Elizabeth Bentley, used knitting bags to secretly transport documents, leveraging the common, non-threatening image of a knitting woman to avoid suspicion.
• Censorship Fears: Due to the risk of knitting patterns being used to send secret, coded, or hidden messages to the enemy, the U.S. Office of Censorship banned the mailing of knitting patterns abroad during the war.
• “Knit for Victory”: Beyond espionage, widespread knitting for the military was a major home-front activity that supported soldiers with warm clothing.

This form of spycraft utilized the overlooked nature of “women’s work” to turn everyday, patriotic activity into a vital intelligence-gathering tool.