NEW YORK -- A cozy little cat-eared hat has captured the hearts of knitters around the world in a pink-colored show of solidarity with thousands who plan to attend women's marches in the nation's capital and elsewhere Saturday.

The caps are at the center of the Pussyhat Project, thought up by Los Angeles friends and knitters Jayna Zweiman and Krista Suh in the aftermath of the November election.

The two, with help from their knitting instructor, came up with the DIY project and swept social media with a call for knitters, crocheters and seamstresses to get busy and donate their creations to crowds expected at the Women's March in Washington the day after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

So far, the project has taken in more than 60,000 handmade hats, with many more created by rogues doling them out to friends and family or planning to keep their own heads warm on the National Mall and at more than 200 sister demonstrations.

"We've been selling pink yarn like crazy," said Angie Paulson, who works at a knitting shop, The Yarnery, in St. Paul, Minnesota. "We can't keep it on the shelves."

Angie Paulson, a knitter who works at The Yarnery shop in Saint Paul, Minnesota, displays one of the "pussy" hats she made.Angie Paulson via AP

She was on her third hat Tuesday and planned a knit-in with customers to make more.

The hats are, in part, a response to Trump's caught-on-camera remarks about grabbing women's genitalia, using the loaded P-word. The project's co-founders want to take back the derogatory term while infusing the traditionally "feminine" color of pink with strength in support of women's rights.

Amy Nowacoski, 43, made herself a hat to wear either on the National Mall or a march in New York. She considers the hat a kind of merit badge among knitters.

"It's, 'Yay, of course I did the pussy hat. You?' There's a lot of that in the knitting world," Nowacoski said. "Additionally, it could force newscasters to say 'pussy hat,' which would be incredibly entertaining."

Zweiman and Suh thought marchers in Washington -- in January -- would need warm headgear and also might enjoy a unifying element.

The two, both Hillary Clinton supporters, launched the project just before Thanksgiving weekend, using social media to spread the pattern created by Kat Coyle, who owns The Little Knittery in Los Angeles.

"It was just so perfect, not just because of Trump's comments but because of the shame and emotion in the fight for women's rights," Zweiman said of the design.

Added Suh: "What surprised me about all of this was the depth of emotion of people who are participating. People are reaching out to us, talking about how this project has lifted them out of a depression, that it's been their way to channel their grief and anger."

Knitters are not only sharing their hats, but they're showing them off on Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere. Some are selling them for as much as $35 on Etsy.

Zweiman and Suh estimated creators are making an average of eight hats each.