If you follow me on Instagram you likely saw that I spent much of my last two weeks sewing up "Pink Pussy Hats" in preparation for last weekends "Woman's March on Washington". I sewed up 68 hats in total and donated them to friends and neighbors who were marching either in DC or elsewhere. I don't knit, not very well and certainly not very quickly, so I opted to sew my cat hats instead.
I knew I wanted to make a lot!
It was to be my part in the march, make hats, donate my time and services toward the cause...Because, I wasn't planning to march myself.
It was something I debated for weeks...
I knew of many friends local and otherwise who intended to march and while I believed in the Woman's March and it's intention I couldn't get past my worry.
The more I tried to talk myself into wanting to go, the more I worried about the possible dangerous things that might happen not to mention the fact that large crowds make me extremely uncomfortable!
So, for me, my contribution was sewing up 68 fleece hats...
And then, as the day approached I began to waiver. I had spent days emailing folks in my neighborhood, whom I didn't know, about picking up their hats, about the march, about the sea of pink and I got excited. This was going to be something big! Something important! And then I began to realize, hey...we live so close, we have the luxury of "going with the flow", staying on the periphery (if it felt like that was the best thing) but still being a part. Aren't we lucky! And then it started to seem a little bit less scary, not to mention both kids had expressed an interest in going as well.
Once I realized that it clicked that this really was something, while it might make me feel uncomfortable, that was important to me. Something important to my family. A movement worthy of pulling on "my big girl panties" and donning my "pink pussy hat"...and off we went...
And something amazing happened. The crowds were there, immediately, on the metro, off the metro and then everywhere! I felt my hands begin to clam up a bit, but then...we looked around and while the crowds were there so too was a beautiful energy. The energy was meaningful, peaceful, and friendly. The crowds were so accepting that they didn't bother me.
We walked, we cheered, we chanted, we chatted, we marched...alongside all ages, races and sexes.
And our voices were heard!
And they will continue to be heard! There are phone calls to make, post cards to send and momentum to keep moving forward...
In the meantime, I'd rather not sew pink for a while. Ha ha ha!
But, seriously though, 68 fleece cat hats...is a lot of PINK!
Though I will say that they did turn out pretty darn cute, I think.
I adapted the "Celia's fleece hat" pattern a bit after making a few and thinking the sizing was a too big.
Here's how:
I also happen to think that they look pretty cute a little "scrappy"...
Or, in a different shade of fleece?...
With a few buttons and whiskers stitched on too...
Of course, my kids love both, but Henry has shown a particular affinity to this whiskered hat...
It might, perhaps, be due to it's resemblance to a certain saber toothed tiger?
Ps. I love the sentiment shared here regarding the woman's march and she's summed it up so so well for me.
This lady rocks and I'm so happy to call her a friend!
And that things like this are occurring post march is unbelievable to me and it is truly upsetting!
And please, let us all just be respectful of each other and above all be kind!
