A yarn shop owner in Minnesota turned a historical symbol of resistance into something tangible: half a million dollars for people facing immigration enforcement.
When Gilah Mashaal saw ICE raids intensify across Minnesota in mid-January, she did what made sense for her community. Needle & Skein, her yarn shop, launched a call for knitters and crocheters to make red winter hats — a design inspired by the red caps Norwegian resistance fighters wore against Nazi occupation in the 1940s. She called them "Melt the ICE hats" and released the pattern online for $5.
The response was immediate and overwhelming. "It's been insane," Mashaal told Good Good Good. "It really has."
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Start Your News DetoxIn just a few weeks, the hats have raised $588,000. The first $250,000 has already moved to two local organizations: $125,000 to STEP (the St. Louis Park Emergency Program) and $125,000 to the Immigrant Aid Emergency Fund. Mashaal is now coordinating with her team to decide where the next round of donations should go — a good problem to have.
The momentum built in waves. The project started on January 15, but it accelerated sharply after a second ICE shooting. "And then after the murder of Alex Pretti, it really exploded," Mashaal said. Red yarn began disappearing from shelves across the region as the hats became a visible marker of community resistance.
Getting a hat if you can't knit
Not everyone has the patience or skill for knitting, so Mashaal's daughter created a matching system. People willing to knit hats can sign up to donate them. People who want to buy a pre-made hat can add their names to a waiting list. Everything is a donation — the knitters contribute materials and time, the buyers contribute money that goes directly to Minnesota organizations.
"It's going to be first-come, first-served," Mashaal explained about the pre-made hats. "When we get a hat, we're just going to go down the list. I just think that's the most fair way to do it."
The human moments have been as powerful as the numbers. One woman walked into the shop and loudly asked, "Is this the resistance headquarters?" Mashaal has also received messages from people around the world saying they're holding Minnesota and the United States in their hearts.
What started as a craft community responding to crisis has become something larger — a way for people to turn their hands and their money toward something concrete.
