CLERGY craftivists have been clicking away with their needles as part of the Melt the ICE Red Hat knitting protest against the brutality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) troops on the streets of Minneapolis.
The killings of two citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, have drawn international condemnation.
The protest originated from Needle and Skein, a wool shop in Minneapolis. Seeing similarities between Nazi Germany and what was happening in their state, they took inspiration from the Norwegians who made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country in 1941. The Nazis swiftly made the protests illegal and the makers and wearers punishable by law.
The store came up with a pattern for knitted and crocheted versions of a red hat, and published it on Ravelry, the social network for knitters. It was made available to download for $5, the proceeds to go to immigration-aid organisations in the locality. It has so far raised about $400,000, and has resulted in red yarn selling out in state after state in the US.
The Revd Fiona Souter, from St Albans, has used knitting and crochet in a variety of contexts throughout her ministry. She discovered the protest on Ravelry and circulated the details on a clergy sewing site.
‘Where there’s wool, there’s a way’
“We’re all sitting down, with our ministerial hearts thinking, ‘This is a terrible thing that’s happening,’” she said on Tuesday. “I’ve studied the rise of fascism, and I’m seeing things at the moment that are frightening. I think we’re further down the road than we realise.
“I wanted my protest to be humanitarian, not political. I wanted to express my own horror and — like everyone in these situations — to do something. The connection to the Norway resistance speaks very loudly to me, as someone who grew up in the Cairngorm, familiar with Heroes of Telemark history.”
She invited fellow clergy to post pictures of themselves wearing the red hats that they had knitted, and had received a positive response. “They’re coming in from all over the place,” she said. “It’s a good, peaceful protest.”
