CLERGY craftivists have been clicking away with their needles as a 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 residents, 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 of their state, they took inspiration from the Norwegians who made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a visible 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 got here 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 within the locality. It has to date raised about $400,000, and has resulted in red yarn selling out in state after state within the US.
The Revd Fiona Souter, from St Albans, has used knitting and crochet in a wide range of contexts throughout her ministry. She discovered the protest on Ravelry and circulated the main points on a clergy sewing site.
‘Where there’s wool, there’s a way’
“We’re all sitting down, with our ministerial hearts considering, ‘This is a terrible thing that’s happening,’” she said on Tuesday. “I’ve studied the rise of fascism, and I’m seeing things in the meanwhile which can be frightening. I believe we’re further down the road than we realise.
“I wanted my protest to be humanitarian, not political. I wanted to precise my very 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 within the Cairngorm, conversant in Heroes of Telemark history.”
She invited fellow clergy to post pictures of themselves wearing the red hats that that they had knitted, and had received a positive response. “They’re coming in from everywhere,” she said. “It’s a great, peaceful protest.”
