Melt the Ice Hat
August 13, 2026 by marianne h donley in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group tagged as Bonnets Rouges, knitting, Liberty Cap, Marianne, Melt the Ice Hat, Nisselue Hat, Phrygian cap, Voyageur cap
When I’m not writing, I knit.
Sometime in January a red knitted hat pattern was recommended to me on my Ravelry page. For those of you who do not know, Ravelry is a free website that connects fiber crafters (knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc.) from around the world. It had a giant database of patterns—some free, some for sale—yarn, pattern designers, and a personal page you can customize.
Anyway, up popped The Melt the Ice Hat. The designer, Paul S Neary, based his design on the hats Norwegians made and wore in the 1940s as a protest to the Nazi occupation. This hat was to protest the ICE occupation and raids in Minnesota. Proceeds from the pattern are donated “to immigrant aid agencies for distribution to those impacted by the actions of ICE.”
I immediately bought the pattern and ordered two skeins of red yarn. In late January, they may have been the last skeins of red yarn available—every knitter on Ravelry seemed to be knitting The Melt the Ice Hat. The hat has a wide brim of ribbing, a top of stockinette that decreases to a point. A braid and tassel decorate the tip of the hat. I was going to have to wait a few days for my red yarn, I cast on in blue.
It was a fast knit, but I wanted a longer brim and a longer more pointier top. So I kept notes of what I would do when that red yarn arrived. As I was knitting, I was also reading information about The Red Hat.
Evidently, the red hat from Norway was called a “Nisselue” Hat or Santa Hat and was actually outlawed by the Nazis once they figured out the Norwegians were wearing the hats as protest. The Guardian has a great article with pictures of The Red Hats here.
My favorite part of the Norwegian protest hats—when outlawed the protesters switched to wearing a paper clip on their clothes. Not as in your face as a red hat, but still a protest. If you scroll down to the end of the above linked article you will see examples of the Red Hat from the Norway’s Resistance Museum.
Then, I read the Nisselue was really a French voyageur cap. I looked up voyageur caps. Sure enough, French trappers in North America wore red hats shaped like The Red Hat, but a bit longer. Instead of the braid and tassel, the tip was often fastened to the brim with some type of cockade (a circle of ribbon that could be symbolic, flag colors, etc).
Of course, most articles about voyageur caps mentioned the famous Bonnets Rouges of the French Revolution. “In revolutionary France, the cap, or bonnet rouge was first seen publicly in May 1790 at a festival in Troyes, adorning a statue representing the nation, and at Lyon, on a lance carried by the goddess Libertas. To this day the national emblem of France, Marianne, is shown wearing a Phrygian cap.
Photo de F. Lamiot
The caps were often knitted by women known as Tricoteuse who sat beside the guillotine during public executions in Paris in the French Revolution, supposedly continuing to knit in between executions.” (Wikipedia) And of course there is the famous knitter Madame Defarge from Tale of Two Cities. I wonder if she sat by the guillotine and knitted Bonnets Rouges with the the names of the people to be killed coded into the brim of the hats.
The bonnet rouge is so interconnected with France the the official 2024 Olympic mascot was a conical cap, the Phryge.
After reading about the bonnet rouges, someone mentioned the hats were actually American Liberty hats, worn during the American Revolution. I looked that up, and not only is the Liberty hat a thing, but Minutemen reenactors have a poling the Liberty Hat every year in Bedford, Massachusetts. In New York City, the Sons of Liberty had a tradition to erect the liberty pole to protest the British. The liberty pole is topped with the liberty hat.
The liberty cap shows up in American art all over Washington, DC. Colonies and early states used the liberty cap on flags and in seals. There was even a liberty cap large cent coin minted from from 1793 until 1796. The coin features an image of the goddess of Liberty and her accompanying Phrygian cap. (We’ll get to that cap in a bit.) The American Liberty hats had the tips folded forward, rather than to the side. Most of the pictures show the hat without a folded brim and worn above the ears—or like in Bedford, installed on a Liberty Pole.
Many counties adopted the liberty hat as their symbol of freedom. The coat of arms of Haiti features a liberty hat atop a palm tree. For Argentina the hat is atop a pole being held by two clasping hands. Columbia also includes it in their coat of arms as a symbol of liberty and freedom. But as I mention before the liberty hat is sometimes referred to as a Phrygian cap.
Turns out the Phrygian cap is much much older.
“The Phrygian cap, also known as Thracian cap and liberty cap, is a soft conical cap with the apex bent over, associated in antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and Asia. The Phrygian cap was worn by Thracians, Dacians, Persians, Medes, Scythians, Trojans, and Phrygians after whom it is named. The oldest known depiction of the Phrygian cap is from Persepolis in Iran.” (Wikipedia)
The above link includes tons of pictures of the Phrygian cap in history. A carving of a Parthian wearing one from 203 AD. A 4th century BC bust of Attis—labeled Phrygian Attis wearing the cap. Roman artwork shows Paris of Troy wearing the hat. The Basilica of Sant’Apolinare Nuovo in Italy has the Three Wise Men wearing Phrygian caps. The cap was so common bronze helmets designed by the Thracian look exactly like a Phrygian cap, complete with the forward folding tip.
Just to round out the story of the liberty cap, I mentioned above that the Norway was called a “Nisselue” Hat or Santa Hat. So, Santa wears a modified Phrygian hat as do gnomes—and Smurfs.
The Melt the Ice Hat has a rich history. I enjoyed knitting it (twice). I have another one planned, but this time I’m going for the more voyageur styled cap. This hat is knitted in one piece with a elongated football shape. Once finished, one pointed end is tucked inside the other. This makes a double thick hat and if the brim is folded—quadruple thick and very warm. I’ll post pictures when I finish.
Books by Marianne
Spotlight on Jenna Barwin
August 4, 2026 by marianne h donley in category Writing tagged as First Book in Series, Jenna Barwin, new release, novella, Rescued by the Outlaw Vampire
Rescued
by the
Vampire Outlaw
Jenna Barwin
Dark Wine Novella 1
August 4, 2026
Hidden Depths Publishing
ISBN: 978-1952755231
About the Book
COLIN
Seeing her again tears me apart. Four years have passed, and I still love her as fiercely as the day she walked away. But my vampire community has given me one job: rescue her.
A catastrophic typhoon is racing toward the California coast. To save her life, I have no choice but to abduct her—because she’ll never believe the truth in time.
Then I bite her to restore the memories she lost.
The fear in her eyes guts me.
I’m doing my duty…but all I want is a second chance.
Can I convince her I’m not the monster she thinks I am?
NAMI
I wake screaming. There’s a man in my room. Then I realize who it is. My ex-boyfriend who believes he’s a vampire.
Part of me still loves him. But I can’t build a life with someone who’s delusional.
So I run.
But when I try to escape, he shows a side of himself I’ve never seen before—an outlaw who refuses to let me go.
Our desire still burns, but captivity changes everything. Every mile between us and freedom deepens my confusion. I still want him. I still care.
Yet if I don’t find a way to escape, I may lose more than my freedom—because my very heart is at risk…
Read more of Jenna Barwin’s Books
Spotlight on Lynette M. Burrows
April 6, 2026 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Alternative History, Lynette M Burrows, science fiction, Speculative Fiction, The Fellowship Dystopia series
Lynette M. Burrows is an author, blogger, creativity advocate, writing coach, and Yorkie wrangler. She survived moving seventeen times between kindergarten and her high school graduation. Her stories weave her experiences into speculative fiction worlds that capture your attention, characters you root for, and action that keeps you turning pages.
Her Fellowship Dystopia series, My Soul to Keep, and If I Should Die, and a companion novel, Fellowship, tell the story of a world where the isolationists and fundamentalists merged after FDR’s assassination and created an America where even the elite can be judged sinners and hunted by the Angels of Death. They are in online bookstores everywhere.
Book three, And When I Wake, was just released.
And When I Wake: The Fellowship Dystopia, Book Three
When your greatest enemy is your own sister, can you save a nation without losing your soul?
In the epic conclusion to Lynette M. Burrows’ The Fellowship Dystopia Series, Miranda must find a way to break the theocratic Fellowship’s iron grip on 1965 America while protecting her real identity. But Miranda wants more than the end of the Fellowship—she wants justice for the deaths of her first love and her beloved mentor.
Meanwhile, her sister Irene, uses deception, threats, and the Angels of Death behind the scenes to regain her status as wife of the Fellowship’s Prophet. Unless she is stopped soon, she will lead the country more ruthlessly than any before her.
And When I Wake is a searing exploration of whether the fight for justice and for freedom can coexist when everything you love has been taken from you.
If you love morally complex female leads and freedom-from-tyranny stories with deep emotional stakes, you won’t want to miss the complete trilogy! (Buy links below.)
Lynette lives in the land of OZ and is a certifiable chocoholic and coffee lover. When she’s not blogging or writing or researching her next project, she avoids housework and plays with her two Yorkshire terriers. You can find Lynette online on Facebook, or BlueSky (@lynettemburrows.bsky.social) or on her website.
Lynette’s Books
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Spotlight on Bella Barwin
December 31, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Bella Barwin
Bella Barwin writes galaxies ruled by dark dominance, desire, and the sting of surrender. The Alien Masters of A’Llure series features stand-alone romances in an interconnected world, with alien masters and feisty dragon heroines.
Claiming His Dragon:
A Dark Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Alien Masters of A’Llure Book 1
Jenna Barwin
ISBN: 9781952755309
Hidden Press Publishing
2025
My palm itches with the desire to tame her.
Ordered by my A’Llurian clan to choose a mate from the Drag’gon ambassadors, I expect cold negotiations and strategic pairings.
Then I see her.
Elegant. Spirited. With eyes that challenge and lips made for defiance. She awakens something deep inside me—something primal. My laz’zo stirs with the need to claim, to guide, to protect.
But she’s royalty, and royalty doesn’t follow orders or submits. Especially not to a hardened starship commander like me.
She’ll fight. She’ll defy. But I have ways of teaching obedience—lessons I’ll impress upon her slowly, thoroughly.
Until she learns. Not all cages are cold. Not all chains are visible. And love? Love can be the most exquisite restraint of all.
Because in the end, she’ll be mine—bound to me in every way that matters.
Capturing His Dragon
A Dark Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Alien Masters of A’Llure Book 2
Bella Barwin
978-1952755323
Hidden Depths Publishing
2025
She isn’t what she seems…
Standing in my spaceship’s brig, she’s a vision of fire—hair the color of a blood-lit sunset, skin patterns shimmering with edges of molten gold. Breathtaking.
But she’s also a stowaway—a shapeshifting dragon who infiltrated my spaceship, slipped past my crew, and dared to think she could remain unseen.
Defiant. Untamed. A potential enemy spy I cannot ignore.
Yet she stirs every ruthless instinct I keep buried, igniting a hunger as dangerous as it is undeniable.
And soon, she’ll learn that in my world, actions have consequences—consequences that are deeply bound together with desire…
Bella’s Books
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A Review of Merry Belles: A Bluestocking Collection with Friends
December 29, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Book Reviews tagged as A review, Alina K. Field, Bluestocking Belles, Christmas Stories, new release
Merry Belles:
A Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends
Published by Bluestocking Belles
Print December 7, 2025
Ebook: December 20, 2025
ISBNS:
Print: 978-1965509067
Ebook: 978-1965509050
Authors: Caroline Warfield. Elizabeth Donne, Cerise DeLand, Alina K. Field, Sherry Ewing, Jude Knight, and Rue Allyn
This lovely collection contains seven short Christmas stories set in Regency England. The stories are all entertaining and perfect for a lunchtime or an after dinner read. I appreciated that several of the stories had older heroines and had common people like doctors, housekeeper and soldiers at their centers.
My two favorites were Lady Loughton’s Last Wager by Alina K. Field and Maggie’s Wheelbarrow by Jude Knight. Lady Loughton featured an older widow and a younger rake. I loved how she dealt with her male children (and friends). Maggie was a war bride with two children and little money looking for her soldier husband. Ms. Knight did a good job with amnesia part of the story, which I appreciate as a family member suffers from both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Many authors don’t take such care and that can make reading amnesia stories difficult for me. I really enjoyed her story.
If you enjoy regency romances, you will absolutely enjoy Merry Belles.
Other Books by Alina K. Field
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