02/07/2026
The little Minneapolis yarn shop that launched the "Melt the ICE" red hat movement has some big news: the knitter uprising that Needle & Skein sparked three weeks ago has now raised over $650,000 for Minnesota immigrant rights groups! It all started with a simple red beanie topped with a braided tassel, inspired by hats worn by Norwegians as silent protest against N**i occupation during World War II. Known as the "Melt the ICE" hat, the $5 knitting pattern has been ordered more than 100,000 times, causing red yarn shortages across the country.
In its update yesterday, the shop wrote: "We are speechless. We are overwhelmed with the generosity of the fiber community and beyond. This outpouring of love and support is felt around the state. Because of you, we can help so many people who need it. Thank you thank you thank you. Keep knitting. Keep resisting. Keep showing up for your neighbors. Melt. The. Ice."
The hat is the brainchild of Paul Neary, an employee at Needle & Skein and a history buff who knew exactly where to look for inspiration. During the 1940s, Norwegians wore red tasseled caps called "nisselue" as a wordless show of defiance against the N**i occupiers. The N**is were so threatened by this simple gesture that they eventually outlawed the caps entirely. It was a history based around resistance and solidarity that felt urgently relevant to Neary. "It truly does feel like we are surrounded, and everyone is at risk," he said. "I brought this hat back for a reason."
For Needle & Skein owner Gilah Mashaal -- who is Jewish and an immigrant herself -- the hats have given people something tangible to do with their grief and fury in the wake of the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents. "I think this gave people a purpose and a way to channel -- honestly -- their rage and anxiety into something that they could actually create," she said.
Many who are picking up needles are also engaged in other forms of activism -- protesting, organizing, serving as legal observers. As Megan Boesen, the owner of Knit & Bolt, a Minneapolis craft store, put it: "It's not the only thing to do. But it is worth doing."
And the impact is far more than symbolic. Needle & Skein has presented two $125,000 checks to STEP (St. Louis Park Emergency Program) and the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, both of which assist local immigrant communities. More donations to local groups are in the works.
The campaign has also inspired local action far beyond Minnesota, with knitting shops around the country hosting "Melt the ICE" knit-alongs to raise funds for immigrant rights groups in their own communities. In Birmingham, Alabama, for instance, the knitting shop Knit B'ham hosted a packed event last week to knit Melt the ICE hats while raising over $1,300 for ¡HICA!, the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama.
Mats Tangestuen, the director of Norway's Resistance Museum in Oslo, was moved to learn that Minnesota -- the state with the largest Norwegian population in the U.S. -- had resurrected this piece of his country's history. "It was used in the period of the war where everything looked very dark," Tangestuen said of the original hat. "The main purpose of it was just to keep up morale, keep up hope and not descend into hopelessness and apathy."
In Minnesota and beyond, the red hats are serving much the same purpose today -- giving people a sense of solidarity, of connection, in a time that feels unrelentingly dark. And if the yarn shortages are any indication, the movement is just getting started.
--> To download the knitting pattern for the Melt the ICE Hat -- all proceeds of which go to immigrant aid groups -- visit https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-hat
There is also a crochet pattern available at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-crochet-version
For more ways to help those resisting the ICE occupation in Minnesota - from local groups to support to action alerts to sending a note of gratitude -- visit https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
----
For several uplifting picture books about Mighty Girls who uses fabric crafts to spread kindness, we recommend "A Hat for Mrs. Goldman" (https://www.amightygirl.com/a-hat-for-mrs-goldman), and "Extra Yarn" (https://www.amightygirl.com/extra-yarn), both for ages 4 to 8
For children's books that encourage empathy and understanding of Mighty Girl immigrants of the past and present, visit our blog post, "A New Land, A New Life: 25 Mighty Girl Books About the Immigrant Experience" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12855
For books for children and teens about the importance of standing up for truth, decency, and justice, even in dark times, visit our blog post, "Dissent Is Patriotic: 50 Books About Women Who Fought for Change," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364
For books for tweens and teens about girls living under real-life authoritarian regimes throughout history that will help them appreciate how precious democracy truly is, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426
To stay connected with A Mighty Girl, you can sign-up for A Mighty Girl's free email newsletter at https://www.amightygirl.com/forms/newsletter
To read more about the Melt the ICE Hat campaign in the New York Times, visit https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/style/minnesota-ice-red-hats-knit.html
