Manatee’s ‘Knitted Knockers’ ‘soft, comfortable, beautiful’

The only time Washington state resident Barbara Demorest cried after going through a cancer diagnosis and a mastectomy was when a volunteer told her, “You won’t be able to put anything on that scar for six weeks.”

All Demorest had wanted to do was go back to work and look normal in her clothes. “There were complications so I couldn’t have reconstruction,” Demorest said on her website, knittedknockers.com.

“My doctor later saw me holding an advertisement for a silicone breast prosthesis and said, ‘Most people are not satisfied with those.’ I said, ‘Well what do I do?’ He said, ‘Do you knit?’ ” and showed her a pattern for a knitted soft prosthesis she could use instead.

The doctor wouldn’t let Demorest take his only copy of the pattern, but she found one and asked a friend to knit a prosthesis for her. When she put it on, she said, she felt wonderful.

Soon, Demorest became the founder of knittedknockers.com, the nation’s first non-profit whose volunteers knit yarn-soft breast prostheses that are donated to women who have undergone mastectomies or other breast procedures.

River Isles residents Joan Carlson, 89, and Tova Cravens, 80, are two of roughly 60 area knitters who make Knitted Knockers for mastectomy survivors. River Isles is an age 55 and older community in Bradenton.

The women, who say they can barely keep up with demand, want to encourage other knitters to join them, especially now during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. More than 300 women, mostly in Sarasota County, have requested Knitted Knockers in the past year or so, Cravens said.

Knockers are knitted, fitted and given out on the fourth Friday every month in a building on Tuttle Avenue in Sarasota, and the second Wednesday of the month at a church in Venice.

The area knitters would like to make their creations more available to Manatee County women and are seeking the use of a place for fitting and dispensing of them here, if one becomes available.

“There is a group of ladies who make Knitted Knockers for mastectomy patients here at River Isles,” Carlson said. “Apparently, when someone has a mastectomy and does not opt for reconstruction, they are steered in the direction of the prosthetic device. However, many women find that heavy and uncomfortable, especially in our climate.”

Demorest said on her website that such discomfort is typical. And that those types of prostheses typically require special bras or camisoles with pockets and can’t be worn until weeks after surgery.

“One lady likened it to tying a hot water bottle on her chest,” Cravens said. “Anyone can understand how uncomfortable that must be.”

Knitted Knockers, on the other hand, are soft, comfortable and beautiful, and when placed in a regular bra take the shape and feel of a real breast, Cravens said. The women making Knitted Knockers in Manatee use Caron “Simply Soft” acrylic yarn stuffed with 100 percent polyester fiberfill, she said. And fitting is an important step, Carlson said.

We do the fitting and most women are very comfortable, saying that after all they’ve been through, modesty is not an issue, she said.

Knitted Knockers can be adjusted to fill the gap for breasts that are uneven and are easily adapted for those going through reconstruction, Carlson said. “In the end, it is their decision,” she added. “It’s important they are pleased with how they look.”

In the case of a single mastectomy, the knitters hand out a pair of Knockers, so there is one to wear and one to wash, Carlson said. If a woman has had a double mastectomy, two sets are given..

And they are washable and dry quickly, she said. “Just throw them in the washing machine and dryer or just hang them up to dry,” Carlson said.

Carlson and Cravens have received warm thank you notes from clients.

“I experienced a neat milestone in my life thanks to two River Isle residents, Tova and Joan,” one woman wrote. “If you have had a mastectomy in the past these two girls have the answer for comfort for you.

“The prosthesis given to me by my insurance company I thought did the trick, but what these two girls came up with since that time is unbelievable. No longer do I have to put up with the expense, wait, hot and not so comfortable prosthetic. Try one of these lightweight, washable, Knockers and you will be amazed. There is no words to explain how wonderful they are.”

Craven has created a public Facebook page for the local knitters under the name “Knocker Knitters on the Florida Suncoast.”

People can post and ask questions and also download a free pattern so they can knit for themselves or others. There are also directions to two places where the prostheses are currently donated and fitted each month. Updates will be posted if others become available.

Carlson said she and the other knitters only ask for two things from recipients of Knockers — a hug and a promise they will pass the word around.

“When I'm sitting, I'm knitting and I always think that at this very moment there is a woman somewhere who needs this and might not even know it yet,” Cravens said.

“That is why it is so important to get the word out everywhere. The best ‘reward’ a knitter/donor can receive is to see the joy and happiness on the face of a new recipient when she realizes that she can't feel the prosthesis, but knows that she now looks ‘normal’ in her clothes again.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Manatee’s ‘Knitted Knockers’ ‘soft, comfortable, beautiful’."