See Evil Eye Gloves At DC Gun Reform Rally: Pink Hat 2.0

CHARLOTTE, NC — In a matter of days, protesters will take to the streets, demanding gun reform in the March 24 “March For Our Lives” rally in Washington, D.C., and in cities across the country. This day will mark an occasion for protesters to make signs, noise, and — in much the same spirit of the iconic pink hats of the 2017 Women’s March — a knitted handicraft meant to let lawmakers know voters are watching: the Evil Eye glove.

The "March For Our Lives" event is being organized by survivors of the deadly shooting last month at a high school in Parkland, Fla. by a teen armed with an AR-15. The shooting caused a massive outcry and renewed calls for stricter gun control.

This rally will be absolutely massive. The National Park Service expects 500,000 to attend, which would put it on par with the Women's March on Washington, a rally that totally took over the District and brought the city to a standstill the day after President Trump's inauguration.

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The idea to create a fingerless glove came in a dream, writes knitter Krista Suh, who was behind the pink hat project. On the palm of the glove is a massive “evil eye” symbol, universally known as the symbol meant to ward off evil.

“It came to me in a dream, just minutes before waking up — I had a dream of a protest, a huge peaceful crowd with their hands outstretched toward the sky — each palm had a huge EYE drawn on it,” she says. “It was a Sea of Eyes.”

Shu is now calling on knitters to make the Sea of Eyes a reality, by making a statement to lawmakers that gun violence must end. “Congress needs to know that the people are watching,” she said.

Suh is no stranger to viral knitwear. Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, Suh, along with artist Jayna Zweiman, came up with the idea for the pink hat while learning to knit.

During conversations in knitting circles, the two women found common ground in their passion for women's rights and the inspiration they found in the pro-women's rights language of the-then pending Women's Marches. They envisioned a sea of pink hats for those participating and an easy way to connect those who couldn't participate (for whatever reason) in the actual marches themselves: The Pussyhat Project was born.

The hat’s name was spurred after a taped conversation of Donald Trump leaked shortly before the 2016 Presidential election when the GOP nominee described in graphically vulgar terms about how he tried to have sex with a married women and how stardom affords him the privilege to kiss, grope and have sex with women whenever he pleases.

"Grab them by the p---y," Trump was overheard saying in the recording.

The iconic pink knit hats with the ears, started as a way to show solidarity during a peaceful protest last January when women descended on towns and cities across the city (and then globe). They have since become an powerful symbol of political activism.

You can find the knitting pattern for the Evil Eye Glove here.

Patch Editors Dan Taylor, Jenna Fisher, Marc Torrence contributed

Photo: Women's March On Washington, January 21st 2016, Washington D.C. (splask/Shutterstock)