I believe art is a form of protest. I’ve been crocheting since I was 8 years old, but in the last several years, I’ve focused on refining my skills and exploring new techniques. Interlocking crochet is one of my favorites because it allows for intricate designs with minimal color changes!

My design name, Hey Duke Designs, is a small but intentional nod to my family’s history and a reminder that xenophobia and the pressure to assimilate have real, lasting consequences.

During World War II, Czechoslovakia was one of the first countries invaded by Nazi Germany. The Nazi regime sought to suppress Czech identity through occupation, forced labor, and violence. Language, culture, and national symbols were stripped away, and thousands of Czechs, especially resistance members and intellectuals, were imprisoned, executed, or sent to concentration camps.

My great-uncle served as an American soldier during the war. After being captured, he was held at Stalag IV-B, a German POW camp. While the camp wasn’t known for executing American prisoners, he was killed in captivity. Our family believes he was singled out because of his Czech surname. This serves as a reminder of how identity becomes a target in the hands of fascism.

In the decades that followed, particularly during the Cold War and Red Scare, Slavic Americans were viewed with increased suspicion. As tensions rose between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, people with Central and Eastern European heritage often felt pressure to distance themselves from their roots. Foreign-sounding names were liabilities.

In the 1950s, my grandfather, also a veteran and the brother of the great uncle who died during the war, made the difficult decision to legally change our family’s surname. It was a response to the discrimination he faced from fellow servicemen, such as mockery, mispronunciation, and suspicion tied to his Slavic name. Changing it was a way to deflect scrutiny, and to blend into a culture that demanded sameness.

The ability to erase your name and blend in is a form of protection, but it’s also a privilege. Not everyone has the option of hiding who they are in the face of bigotry, as we are seeing in today’s political climate as we watch more and more minorities being targeted in ways that can’t be erased with a name change or hidden behind paperwork. Many people are forced to navigate systems that were never designed for them.

Standing up for inclusion, justice, and visibility isn’t just political, it’s deeply personal. The name Hey Duke is an act of reclamation and a tribute to the identity my family was pressured to let go of, and a proclamation that we shouldn’t have to erase who we are to be safe.

I believe in equity, justice, and every person’s inherent dignity. So I stand up for racial justice, trans rights, bodily autonomy, healthcare for all, universal income, disability rights, and the simple truth that children are people deserving of respect. I believe no one should have to justify their existence or struggle to meet their basic needs. Throughout history, fiber arts have included messages of solidarity, resistance, and hope into important ideas like community, care, and collective action. Many of my patterns continue this tradition.

These patterns are also a way of documenting history. Every stitch is a response to injustice, a call to action, and a piece of a larger movement.

Resistance isn’t just about fighting. Resistance can also mean finding peace in chaos. They want us disoriented, overwhelmed, and burned out. But choosing to create, to focus, to carve out a moment of calm in a world designed to keep us discombobulated? That’s resistance too.

Most of my patterns are advanced beginner-friendly, requiring only basic double crochet skills. If a pattern calls for anything extra, I’ll guide you through it, so you can focus on the fun part: bringing your project (and your message) to life.

Whether you’re here for political designs, fun patterns, or simply to explore the creativity of interlocking crochet, I’m glad you’re here. Let’s crochet a better future, one stitch at a time.

Ravelry Store published in March 2025

ravelry.com