The Red Hat of Freedom

Red Hats that I have knit and/or crocheted

Join the resistance.  Any red hat will do!  Wear your red hat everywhere on February 26th.  February 26th,  2026, Red Hat Day commemorates a 1942 Nazi ban on red knit caps in occupied Norway, which had become a symbol of resistance.

Today it is a "craftvisim" movement where people wear handmade red hats to show solidarity against injustice, particularly to support immigrant communities and protest ICE operations in the United States.  "Melt the ICE" Movement:  Initiated in Minneapolis in 2026.  This movement uses a specific knitted and crocheted pattern for a red, tasseled, beanie-style cap to protest immigration enforcement.  Protest!

Symbolism:  The hats are worn to represent "solidarity in stitches," often accompanied by donations to immigrant advocacy groups.

Community Action:  Participants use the day to show support for local, marginalized communities.

Historical Reference:  The day honors the Norwegian resistance, specifically the 1942 decree that made the patriotic red caps, worn by adults and children, illegal by Nazi decree.

The official pattern for the Red Hat is here. The pattern costs $5.  All proceeds from the sale of this pattern go to the immigrant aid agencies who will distribute the funds to those impacted by the actions of ICE. The shop originating the pattern has collected almost $1 million!

I was so inspired by this movement, that I wrote a song about it.  Watch my video here.  

Honoring MLK in YARN

Today we honor a great man, Martin Luther King, Jr.  ....  in yarn!

This has become a tradition on "L.A. Is My Beat."  For the past twelve years I have been featuring Suzanne's MLK sweater on my blog in honor of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I will repeat  again this year because I'm so in love with this idea and in awe of Suzanne's mad skills. 

The sweater pattern is from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines."  The name of this sweater is "Margaret," designed for the book by Mary Neal Meador.  The instructions state that the sweater may be embellished after knitting with chain stitched quotations of the knitter’s choice.  The sweater in the book has poetry added to the front and back. 

When I saw Suzanne's ("owlknits") sweater, I was touched by the words she chose.  This is from Suzanne's project page on Ravelry: 

I knit this sweater for a local art exhibition that was organized to honor the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I used quotes from his “I have a dream…” speech to embroider on the front and back of the sweater: Front: Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. Back: The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the day of justice emerges.

These words are still true today.  I am still blown away by Suzanne's sweater and her choice of quotations.  One day I will make such a sweater for myself.  Bravo!  Excellent work, Suzanne, honoring an eloquent man and his ideas! 

Follow this graphed chart to make a different sweater honoring MLK

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Marin Luther King, Jr.

Honoring MLK in Yarn

This has become a tradition on "L.A. Is My Beat."  For the past eleven years I have been featuring Suzanne's MLK sweater on my blog in honor of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I will repeat  again this year because I'm so in love with this idea and in awe of Suzanne's mad skills. 

The sweater pattern is from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines."  The name of this sweater is "Margaret," designed for the book by Mary Neal Meador.  The instructions state that the sweater may be embellished after knitting with chain stitched quotations of the knitter’s choice.  The sweater in the book has poetry added to the front and back. 

When I saw Suzanne's ("owlknits") sweater, I was touched by the words she chose.  This is from Suzanne's project page on Ravelry: 

I knit this sweater for a local art exhibition that was organized to honor the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I used quotes from his “I have a dream…” speech to embroider on the front and back of the sweater: Front: Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. Back: The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the day of justice emerges.

These words are still true today.  I am still blown away by Suzanne's sweater and her choice of quotations.  One day I will make such a sweater for myself.  Bravo!  Excellent work, Suzanne, honoring an eloquent man and his ideas! 

Follow this graphed chart to make a different sweater honoring MLK

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Marin Luther King, Jr.

Hometown History

 

Photo, courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library Archives

The caption for the photo above that appeared in the L.A. Herald Examiner in 1960 reads, "Commemorating the work of eight film pioneers who led the fight against Beverly Hills' annexation by Los Angeles in 1922, a 30-foot marble monument was dedicated at Beverly Dr. and Olympic Blvd. on March 9, 1960. A spiraling bronze replica of a strip of motion picture film is topped by a 14-karat gold star. Among filmland personalities taking part in the fete are, left to right, Conrad Nagel, Corinne Griffith, Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd."

I was at this dedication. Sooky Goldman, photographer and reporter for the Beverly Hills Courier, recruited our Brownie Troop from Beverly Vista Elementary School to participate in the dedication ceremony for the statue. There was a photo of our troop, saluting in front of the statue in the BH Courier. My copy of the photo is long gone, but I still remember the day.

Beverly Vista Brown Troop, 1960 - L-R: Jeri, Denise, Allison, Erica, Jody, Ellen, Nancy, Leslie, Sharon, Eva, Ria, Mandy, Dana, Sandy, Karin, Gayle - Back row: Troop Leaders, Mrs. Milner, Mrs. Martin

Our neighbor, Sooky Goldman, later became active in the preservation of Franklin Canyon Park. 

The statue is still on Olympic Blvd. at Beverly Drive, right near Von's Pavillions Market. It's in the middle of this traffic triangle. I must go over there again and photograph the statue! I feel proud to have participated in this small piece of Beverly Hills history.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend is the kick-off for summer!  It is also a day to remember all the people who have served, and are serving, in the armed forces; our surviving veterans; and to honor those who have died in past wars.  Thanks, guys! Wikipedia's description of this day, Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 28th in 2018). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. women and men who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.

Summer also means backyard barbecues, parties, the beach and vacations! We are experiencing some cloudy and cool weather here in Los Angeles right now.  We call it "May Gray," which leads to "June Gloom."  Eventually, we'll have plenty of sunshine.  Savor the coolness while it's here!

Photo by Nicole Houff

My local ukulele group, The CC Strummers are having their annual Memorial Day Potluck on Sunday.  It's always fun, full of great food selections and excellent conversation!  We are also holding an Open Mic with about 10 participants. Ukulele has changed my life!  I hope you also have a fun weekend planned. Try to stay out of traffic and just enjoy your current surroundings. There's a lot to be said for a home-grown holiday!

Birthday Week 2023

B-Day carnations (my faves) from Mr. Larry

I've been on a birthday roller-coaster since last week!  My actual birthday was on Thursday, July 20th.  We had lunch with Mollie and Jeffrey on Monday (Miolie's b-day is 7/23) at Bodhi Thai on Olympic Blvd. in BH.  Delicious! Tuesday, I finally passed my obligatory written CA-DMV test.  When you reach a certain age (ahem!) you are required to re-take this tricky test!  On Wednesday, some of the Ladies of the Uke took me to lunch at our fave place, Jackson Cafe.  

On Thursday, the big day, I was greeted with flowers and gifts from my Sweetie! After my online ZOOM ukulele class with Cali Rose (where the group sang "Happy Birthday" to me), Larry and I embarked on our b-day field trip.

6th Street Bridge View from the Street Below

First stop, the Sixth Street Viaduct Bridge. The original bridge built in 1932 was torn down in 2016 and replaced by 2022.  This is the longest bridge in L.A. spanning the L.A. River, The 101 Freeway and the I-5 Freeway. This bridge looks totally different from the original and the other bridges cross the L.A. River, which are Art Deco in design. It's a modern miracle.  The bridge was so popular and unique when it opened, that people were performing all kinds of stunts on it, driving too fast, getting into accidents, jumping off, etc.  It had to be closed numerous times for these knuckleheads!  It's been a year since the bridge opened, so we figured we'd be able to drive across without closures.  No such luck.  We got there and police activity had closed the bridge.  So, we drove around underneath and took a few pictures.

We head over to Al & Bea's  Mexican food stand on East 1st Street in Boyle Heights for lunch.  They make the BEST bean and cheese burritos!  I haven't eaten anything else there because the beans in those burritos are so flavorable, but I'm sure everything is good!  There's always a guy playing popular tunes on his guitar out front.  It's a pleasant and delicious time at Al & Bea's.

The famous bean and cheese burrito at Al & Bea's doesn't look like much, but it's divine!

On our way back home to Mid-City, we drove down to Whittier Boulevard (which transitions into 6th Street on the other side of the L.A. River).  The 6th Street Bridge was open!  We finally got to drive across.  A park environment will be built beneath and surrounding the base of the bridge in the near future!

Driving across the 6th Street Bridge, east to west

We stopped at home to rest up a bit before the next leg of our birthday field trip. Later in the afternoon we headed over to the newly refurbished Hammer Museum in Westwood. The lobby has been remodeled with some added gallery space.  We toured the galleries and generally enjoyed the atmosphere.

Yarn installation, "Uncertain Journey," by Chiharu Shiota in the Lobby of the Hammer

A crocheted man met us in the first gallery

Selections from the Hammer's contemporary collection

An entire room made out of particle board by artist, Roland Reiss

Mixed media piece by Noah Purifoy

For dinner, we tried out the Santa Monica branch of Bludso's Barbecue on S.M. Boulevard at 14th Street.  The BBQ was delicious!  The restaurant operations and staff could use a bit more time to get up to speed, but all-in-all it was a great experience.

I have a few more lunch dates this week and next!  Thanks for all of the cards, gifts and greetings!

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Winter 2022.  It's very cold across the world.  It's cold in Los Angeles, but warm compared to other parts of North America.  For me, I'm cold when the thermometer drops to below 65 degrees. Time to get out the bulky yarn and knit and/or crochet a BULKY KNIT item!  I have tons of vintage knit patterns lining my bookshelves.  I've been collecting these old pattern books since I started knitting as a little girl, way back in the 1960's.  I've been rummaging through my books and have come up with some fabulous chunky knits to whip up for this cold snap.  Behold:

Fat yarn, large needles...these sweaters are quick and jiffy to work up!  The only problem with these chunky and bulky knits is that I'm rather chunky and bulky myself.  These types of sweaters just add to that bulky Babushka-lady look of my ancestors.  Oh well...who am I to go against my Ukrainian roots! 

These MEGA knits are coming around again in fashion circles.  Take a look at some recent runway favorites:

Please note that these high-fashion MEGA knits are shown on clothes-hanger skinny models.  

Eh!  Who cares!  I'm freezing.  I'm gonna whip out my size 13 needles and double up some yarn and knit a SUPER-CARDI this weekend!

Happy New Year, my friends.  I'll be here at Chez Bloom Underhill under a pile o' yarn!

Irish in Los Angeles

St. Patrick's Day is not really my holiday, but the spirit has reached me. Our Mid-City L.A. neighborhood must have had a strong Irish population during the 1920's and 1930's.There are more than a few Irish establishments nearby, many of the homes are built to look like Irish and English country homes in the Storybook style and there are many Catholic and Protestant congregations in the vicinity.

I found this darling St. Paddy's Day Barbie Doll online. She looks ready to hoist a pint at Tom Bergin's!

Supposedly, EVERYONE is Irish on this day. Have a great ol' time in Irish L.A. today!

Words to Live and Knit By

 

Suzanne's sweater honoring the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This has become a tradition on "L.A. Is My Beat."  For the past decade or so I have been featuring Suzanne's MLK sweater on my blog in honor of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I will repeat  again this year because I'm so in love with this idea and in awe of Suzanne's mad skills. 

The sweater pattern is from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines."  The name of this sweater is "Margaret," designed for the book by Mary Neal Meador.  The instructions state that the sweater may be embellished after knitting with chain stitched quotations of the knitter’s choice.  The sweater in the book has poetry added to the front and back. 

When I saw Suzanne's ("owlknits") sweater, I was touched by the words she chose.  This is from Suzanne's project page on Ravelry: 

I knit this sweater for a local art exhibition that was organized to honor the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I used quotes from his “I have a dream…” speech to embroider on the front and back of the sweater: Front: Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. Back: The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the day of justice emerges.

I am still blown away by Suzanne's sweater and her choice of quotations.  One day I will make such a sweater for myself.  Bravo!  Excellent work, Suzanne, honoring an eloquent man and his ideas! 

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Marin Luther King, Jr.

Happy Valentines Day 2021

"Nancy" by Ernie Bushmuller

This year, Valentines Day fell on a Sunday. We're still in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, even though our virus numbers are going down in Los Angeles. No indoor dining, no gathering in bars, no inside fun with friends. It's February. It's cold. We are lucky in Los Angeles to have a few sunny days at least, so outside activities are popular.

In the morning, Larry and I just had our usual breakfast and read the Sunday L.A. Times. We exchanged our homemade, personalized Valentine cards. In past years, before we all learned Photoshop, I would cut out pictures, paper doilies, construction paper hearts and glue everything together into a Valentine collage. With the advent of Photoshop, we are way more sophisticated now with our cards.

Very appropriate for this year

Corny, but heartfelt!

Larry had some gardening jobs to complete and I was scheduled to go to a little birthday party for my friend, Sherry. I met up with the Uke Buddies (an offshoot group of the C.C. Strummers) at the Jackson outdoor Cafe for a bit of lunch, birthday cake and ukulele playing. The Jackson Cafe is my go-to place during this pandemic. Sam, the owner, makes the BEST sandwiches, wraps, soup, salads, omelettes and more in his little snack shop. The patio is quiet and delightful. There are enough empty tables on a Sunday so that we can socially distance ourselves. We were lucky that it was a sunny day (until the wind came up later in the afternoon). 

Ethan, Tom, Carole, Emiko and our Fans

Dianne, Ellen, Cali

Cali and Birthday Girl, Sherry

We ate lunch, played a few tunes and had birthday cake, prepared by Ronnie. It was a really fun afternoon! Sam and his staff wanted to know when we're coming back. They LOVE hearing us play ukulele and singing! We even had a few fans during our set.

Ronnie, Dianne and Ellen

I always try to match my ensemble to the decor!

After our the ukulele lunch party I hurried home to my sweet Valentine. The weather was turning cold. Outdoor dining was out of the question. Larry had received a gift card for In 'n Out Burger for his January birthday from our friends, Audrey and Jeff. This was a perfect time to redeem that coupon! We have several In 'n Out Burger locations in the L.A. area. The one closest to us is always mobbed. We decided to take a drive down to El Segundo, south of the airport and try the larger In 'n Out there. The line was short, we could see the sun setting toward the west through the palm trees while we enjoyed our burgers in Larry's spacious car.

It was a perfect Valentines Day! I hope you had a good Sunday too!