In Minneapolis, some activists are protesting against ICE in an unexpected way. Knitters across the Minnesotan city and beyond have begun handcrafting and wearing red hats, thanks to a clever initiative launched by a local yarn shop.
Last month, Needle & Skein released a knitting pattern for its “Melt the ICE” caps, inspired by traditional Norwegian hats known as nisselue. Norwegians donned these red, woolen caps during World War II to signal their resistance to the Nazi occupation (the hats were eventually banned by the Germans). According to Mats Tangestuen, the director of Norway’s Resistance Museum in Oslo, the hat emerged sometime around September 1941, when the last large demonstration against the Nazis was held.
“It was used in the period of the war where everything looked very dark,” Tangestuen told NPR. “The main purpose of it was just to keep up morale, keep up hope and not descend into hopelessness and apathy.”
These political undertones resonated strongly with Paul Neary, an employee at Needle & Skein. When Gilah Mashaal, the store’s owner, recently suggested a “protest stitch-along” in solidarity with anti-ICE activism, Neary proposed a nisselue pattern, complete with a ribbed brim, pointed top, and tassel. The nisselue also felt fitting for Minnesota: one-third of people in the Midwestern state have Nordic heritage.
“I brought this hat back for a reason,” Neary added in NPR. “It was just collective exhaustion. Minnesotans—we’re not going to say the big thing, but we often know what the big thing is just by looking at each other.”
“I said: ‘Well gee whiz, that’s extremely fitting for this moment,’” Mashaal told The Guardian. “Me being a Jewish small business owner, that resonates with me on so many levels.”
Selling for a mere $5, the Melt the ICE pattern has been ordered more than 85,000 times since its release, generating some $400,000 as of last week. The pattern has been bought by crafters around the world, ranging from Poland and Mexico to Hong Kong and the UAE. So far, Mashaal has donated $250,000 of the proceeds to two local nonprofits dedicated to housing support for immigrant communities.
“It’s been really hard for people to sit back and watch this, and people have kind of despaired as to what can we do,” Mashaal told The New York Times. “I think this gave people a purpose and a way to channel—honestly—their rage and anxiety into something that they could actually create.”
The Melt the ICE caps fit nicely in the “craftivist” tradition, which, as its name suggests, reimagines crafting as a form of political opposition. During the 2017 Women’s March, for instance, hundreds of demonstrators wore pink “pussy hats” in protest against the first Trump administration. Throughout history, craftivism has often been tied to feminism, environmentalism, and anti-capitalism, a nod to fiber art’s traditionally overlooked status.
Following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, protests have erupted across the U.S. in response to ICE’s brutality and use of lethal force. ICE agents have killed at least eight people so far this year, including Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Víctor Manuel Díaz. In 2025, federal agents fatally shot at least 32 people while in ICE custody, including Keith Porter Jr. on New Year’s Eve.
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Inspired by Norwegian nisselue worn during anti-Nazi demonstrations in the 1940s, “Melt the ICE” caps have reemerged among craftivists in Minneapolis and beyond.
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The red hats regained popularity last month when local yarn shop Needle & Skein released a knitted pattern for $5. The shop has since donated $250,000 to two local nonprofits.
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Needle & Skein: Website | Instagram
Sources: A red hat, inspired by a symbol of resistance to Nazi occupation, gains traction in Minnesota; Twin Cities knitting pattern used to protest ICE reaches across the world; In Minneapolis, Knitters Are Protesting With Red Hats; ‘Rage knitting’ against the machine: the hobbyists putting anti-ICE messages into crafts
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