In lieu of fucking, and the rest of it...

Interlude for sanity...the red Norwegian protest hat. This is what I've been doing this week instead of writing about Young Old love, sex, and dating...

Hey Dear Readers, as ENDLESSLY stated, I love writing this Substack and I usually take off two weeks a year. A lot of you ask, “Hey Abbe, how is that possible? You have enough content to keep going ‘round the clock on this?” Yes, for the most part, I do. Some of this writes itself. This week, I’m thinking about other things…

As many of you will no doubt know, following the atrocities in Minneapolis, a local MN knitter and yarn shop have united in an effort to boost and support area immigrant defense funds, creating the “Melt The Ice” hat, and to date, have raised more than a quarter of a million dollars via sales of both the knitting pattern and the hat itself. The NYTimes wrote up the origin story, along with other media, but this red hat, which we can insomuch refer to as the Pussy Hat Chapter II, has its roots in the European protest movement from the 1940s (Hitler outlawed wearing red as he hated the color). Performative? Sure. It’s a hat. It’s also a way for anyone to donate to the cause and to be seen as a “member of the tribe,” so in this instance, every performative drop counts.

My pal Acacia and I knew we wanted to get involved here in the Hudson Valley, so we’ve formed Operation Melt HV, working with a pro knitter named Heidi. She’s knitting the hats with the OG pattern from MN, and we’re donating proceeds to both the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund in Minnesota as well as locally to the Ulster County NY Immigrant Defense Fund.

In just a few days, we’ve already sold 50 hats. This feels like…well…a drop in the bucket, as we all wring our hands and stomp our feet and scream and cry, but yes, it also feels like “something.” Our knitter Heidi will keep turning out hats as long as there is demand, and we’ve added in a 100% wool hat to the offerings too, for a slightly higher price. Here’s that info:

If you’d like to reserve a hat, acrylic for $40 or wool for $50, please email us. We ARE shipping out of area — we live in and around Woodstock, NY but if you want a hat, we’ll get it to you if you toss in a few extra bucks to cover postage.

Yesterday, we connected with a teacher that works in a school upstate by the NY/VT border, a woman who teaches ENL — English as a new language. She’s ordered a hat as she’s doing a segment with her kids on symbols of resistance throughout the ages. Naturally, we’re sending hats along to her for her classroom. Some of her kids might want to wear one. Some of her kids might be too scared to wear one. She said the fear factor is off the charts.

All of this to say that I was dicking around with my pre-Valentine’s Day post for this week and now I’ve decided to save it for next week and just focus on hat fulfillment. So that’s why no column this week.

I was wearing my red hat at the Toyota dealership the other day and a woman asked me about it and ordered one on the spot. It felt really good. We hugged. I needed that hug.

I love you all very much. Buy a hat. Or spread the word about the hats and tell your friends to buy a hat or a few hats. Be safe. Have I said I love you?