yesterday I texted Heather that I outed us on Instagram as liberal floozies by posting this picture of her in a Pussy Hat and using hashtags like #feminist and #notmypresident.
She reminded me that already happened when I posted a picture of her in her Hillary shirt before the election.
Heather’s got a new tshirt! 💪🻠#imwithher #strongertogether #hillaryclinton #momsofinstagram
#momstyle #hrc
A photo posted by Heather + Whitney (@rookiemoms) on Oct 25, 2016 at 5:19pm PDT
This exchanged occurred after we spent a couple hours knitting at our pal Cori’s house, literally in a circle of women. It felt very 2017, but also very 1920s.
The 2017 flavor did not come from the lovely hot buttered rum and chocolate-covered strawberries Cori offered, but rather because the goal of the stitch N Bitch was to produce pussyhats.
What is a pussy hat?
On January 21, Women’s Marches across the country will call attention for the need to be present, to speak out, and to work together to protect and advance the rights of women, immigrants, Muslim people, the poor, and anyone else whose security and opportunity is threatened by the new administration.
Many of us will wear these handmade hats, made from a simple pattern, in pink. The Pussy Hat project is circulating a pattern that’s incredibly easy to follow.
The idea behind the hats is that thousand of women wearing them will “make a unique collective visual statement which will help activists be heard.”
What is a stitch & Bitch?
Hosting a stitch & Bitch, or coffee date with needles if you are shy of the word “bitch”, can be done in your home, a coffee shop, or a knitting shop. invite pals to bring their yarn and needles and while you are welcome to bitch about anything in your life, directing your ire at Trump and his team is appropriate.
Generally everyone works on their own projects at a stitch & Bitch, but yesterday we were unified in our focus on Pussy Hats.
Pro tip: through much trial and error in organizing moms, Heather and I have concluded that Sunday is the best day to suggest moms get away from their households. Cori had a terrific turn-out, despite rainy weather, at 3 pm.
How do I get started on a pussy hat?
A rectangle, slightly more elongated than an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper, when folded in half and sewed up the sides, will produce the effect of cat ears once placed on the head.
All you need is one skein of pink yarn, knitting needles, and a yarn needle to whip stitch the sides together.
Cast on 40 to 50 stitches, depending on the size of your head and the bulk of your yarn. The finished hat Heather is wearing in the top photo was 36 stitches with a bulky yarn and size 8 needles. It was too big for me, but worked well for her.
The ribbing is created by a K2, P2 pattern, or knit 2, Purl 2, for those who don’t speak knitting. watch a YouTube video to get these stitches down.
After 4 inches of ribbing, go to a regular stockinette stitch, which means knit on the front and purl on the back. If you only know how to knit, do the whole thing as just a rectangle where you knit every single row. It will still work, but your hat will be a little more blocky. The ribbing makes it stretch around your head.
Ultimately you will finish by adding a matching amount of ribbing (k2, p2) at the end of the hat. In the photo above, I have just begun to do the final ribbing section.
I started to give detailed instructions in this post, but deleted, ultimately deciding that those who need a lot of guidance are better off leaning on YouTube and referring to the materials on the Pussyhat project website.
The dimensions of this finished hat are a little off. It was for my daughter, but I am going to give it to a 12-month old baby because the length was not enough to come down over her ears. assume a finished hat will be more portrait-oriented dimensions.
We plan to march in Oakland, CA on January 21, wearing our pussy hats. follow us on Instagram to see the crowd!
