Protest Hat

in solidarity with Minnesota

Author photo. 2026.

Ever since Operation Midway Blitz here in Chicago, I began carrying around a copy of my passport (not that it’d do any good) because I’m an immigrant/naturalized citizen and afraid of being detained. When they were in the neighborhood, I was afraid to leave my house. What if I was stopped? Would I be beaten? Would I be detained? Would I be deported?

I haven’t attended a protest. The cold weather doesn’t bother me, the crowds kind of make me anxious, but I’m afraid of being detained, all because of the color of my skin. So I crocheted a protest hat to be in solidarity with the people of Minnesota. What’s happened/happening there is atrocious.

Needle & Skein, a yarn shop in St. Louis Park, MN, designed and brought back red hats, called Melt the ICE hats, to protest what’s going on in Minnesota.

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. ¹

The knit, crochet, and Tunisian crochet patterns can be found here, here, and here. The cost is $5 and the proceeds go to the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund and STEP (St. Louis Park Emergency Program). I bought the crochet pattern but didn’t like it because the end product looks like it was knitted rather than crocheted and, I admit, found it confusing. So I used this one instead.

Wearing this hat could still lead to detention. Maybe the administration will ban these as well. At this point, this is a chance I’m willing to take because I can no longer stand by.

1. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-hat

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Alternatively, please consider buying me an almond milk cappuccino. Thank you!