Considered this part craft post and part political. You’ve been warned!

Yesterday my mom and I joined roughly 750,000 of our friends and neighbors in a march/rally in Los Angeles. I have never seen so many people in one place before. It was inspiring, and yes, I made Pussy Hats.

The first one turned out a little on the small side, so it was instantly claimed by my pink obsessed 4 year old. She thinks pussy only applies to a cat and I aim to keep it that way for now. She was just excited to have a cozy hat and it came in really handy when I took her ice skating on MLK Day.

The other 2 hats were worn by my mom and I to the Women’s March LA. I mostly followed the idea of the pattern, but worked it in the round and used a 3 needle bind off for the top. Part of what I loved about the pussy hat project was that there were many ways to make one with the same general result. Not as many people in hats in LA as other cities, but it was also a really bright and sunny day. Wasn’t hard to feel a tad on the warm side between the sun and the crowd.

I used Astralbath Yarn in Spectra held doubt. I know Ridgely would be happy to have her yarn used for a political purpose. She’s awesome. It had been gifted to me by another knitting friend Mary and it was just the perfect amount for our 3 hats. I wish I’d had the time to make and mail one to my sister too, but I didn’t quite make it in time. Sorry sister!

In case you can’t tell my main sign said “healthy families = a healthy America”. I saw a ton of signs yesterday and they covered a huge range of issues, healthcare, education, marriage equality, immigration, and yes…abortion. I’ve been sad to scan through my Facebook feed and see that my more conservative friends and family seem to have put their blinders on to only focus on the abortion issue.

So I encourage people on both sides of the aisle to look at the bigger picture. There are lots and lots of ways that we could lower the need for abortions. Here are just a few ideas

• Better sex education
• Make higher education more affordable
• Make birth control easily accessible
• Lower the cost of healthcare
• Paid maternity leave
• Equal pay for equal work
• Affordable child care
• Teaching girls to be more confident
• Teaching all children “No means no”

If the United States improved in these areas we would lessen the need for any woman to face the often difficult decision of whether to have an abortion. So instead of focusing on a single issue I am choosing to focus on the many ways we can make women’s lives better.

After attending marches yesterday I know many people are left asking what next? The organizers of the march have put out the first step in a 10 step plan. It starts with reaching out to your representatives, and whether you marched or not I encourage everyone to take part. The only way to make our message clear is to SAY SOMETHING. So go out and do it. Start being the change you want to see in our nation and our communities.