Krista Suh is a craftivist on a mission. To Suh, crafts in general and domestic arts such as home entertaining aren’t given enough respect so she's working to validate them as an equal form of expression.

“This is my craftivist station and it is headquarters for everything I do,” says Suh.

Traditionally, skills such as knitting are passed down through the generations, so a love for crafts can stick with you. 

“I got really into knitting,” continues Suh, “because of my grandmother. I wanted to be closer to her.”

Family and friendship are what led Suh to her knitting circle. And incidentally, what led her to become the co-founder of a national movement after she knitted a hat.

“What are you making?,” asks another member of the circle.

“I’m making a pussy-hat,” answers Suh.

Yes, that hat.

Suh came up with the idea with her friend Jayna Zweiman as a way to stay warm during the Women's March and worked with designer Kat Coyle to come up with a pattern. 

“I have a lot of customers coming into the store looking for the comfort that knitting can provide and the community,” says Coyle.

Instant popularity was the last thing co-founder Jayna Zweiman expected. To Zweiman, knitting came as a form of therapy. After suffering a head and neck injury, she found physical therapy didn’t satisfy her need to design. So she joined Suh in a knitting circle. 

“After my accident, I had done many different kinds of modalities like physical therapy,” says Zweiman. “But what I really needed as an artist, as a maker, as a designer, is to make something with my hands.”

What appealed to her most was the simple fact that she didn’t have to be good at it to be accepted. 

“So this is really nice stuff,” says Zweiman, referring to the yarn she’s using to knit.

“So the thing about a craftivism project that can make it really successful is to make it so that anyone anywhere can participate,” Zweiman adds.

And that’s really what a knitting circle is all about, after all. Inclusion and conversation. Zweiman’s next project is the Welcome Blanket and she’s working to make 2,000 miles of blankets, instead of walls. It’s just a square and as basic as that is, it’s meant to keep you warm.