Story credit: By MATT DUTTON Staff Writer | 217-221-3370 mdutton@whig.com
The day after her mastectomy late last September, Becky Vogel was back home, greeting loved ones visiting to check on her and her condition.
Vogel bounced back relatively quickly from the surgery, but it would be several months before she could get any sort of prosthetic breast. For a time, she wore a sling to help cover her chest, but that drew unwanted attention.
She first heard of Knitted Knockers at her doctor’s office. Special knitted or crocheted breast prostheses, Knitted Knockers are soft and take the shape and feel of a real breast when placed in any regular bra.
Made with a special mercerized yarn, Knitted Knockers may be washed repeatedly without losing their soft feel.
“You need something soft there,” Vogel said, noting how sore her chest was for months after her surgery.
A few weeks after trying Knitted Knockers for the first time, Vogel was knitting her own to donate to other women who had undergone similar procedures.
“I was so lucky compared to a lot of people,” Vogel said. “I feel like I was blessed, and I should give back.”
Vogel didn’t require chemotherapy after her procedure, and lab test results “have all come back perfect,” she said. She donates each set of Knockers to the Blessing Breast Center. Blessing provides Knitted Knockers, free of charge, to any woman in the area who has undergone a mastectomy or other procedures to the breast, even if the surgery wasn’t performed at Blessing.
Women interested in receiving Knitted Knockers from Blessing may contact Sheila Hermesmeyer at the Blessing Breast Center, 223-8400, ext. 4300.
“Not every womanwants or can afford reconstructive surgery,” said Mary Jo Hunt, the Blessing Volunteers in Partnership chair for Knitters.
Hunt has volunteered with Blessing for more than 20 years. She previously knitted hats or afghans for newborn babies and patients undergoing chemotherapy, but after discovering Knitted Knockers about six months ago, they became her focus.
“It has been very meaningful for me, helping someone who has suffered,” she said. “It could have been me on the other end.”
Hunt estimates of Blessing’s 30 to 40 volunteer knitters, between 10 and 15 focus on making
Knitted Knockers.
Each individual Knitted Knocker takes about six hours to knit, so a set requires an investment of around 12 hours.
“The hours it takes to make a pair of Knockers is nothing compared to what the women who receive them have gone through,” Hunt said.
Many prosthetics require special bras that can be expensive. Hunt remembers how excited one woman was after receiving a set of Knitted Knockers, because she could again wear traditional bras.
“I think it gives them a new sense of confidence, especially if they can wear them home from the hospital,” Hunt said. “They haven’t lost their feminity.”
Knitted Knockers come overfilled with stuffing to allow the individual to adjust them.
Hunt said Knitted Knockers may be worn through any activity, including swimming.
“I hope this takes off,” she said. “These women have been through a lot, and it’s something I’m glad to do.”
Knitted Knockers was formed in 2011 by Barbara Demorest, a breast cancer survivor who was self-conscious after her mastectomy and unable to receive reconstructive surgery.
“I was at a loss as to what to wear to appear normal, so that I could get back to work,” Demorest wrote in her personal testimony on the Knitted Knockers website.
Demorest received a pair of Knockers from a friend, and soon after asked her doctor if they would hand Knockers out at the office if she supplied them.
Knitted Knockers has grown during the six years since and now ships an average of 1,000
Knockers around the globe each month.
The patterns and instructional videos are available free on the website and have been downloaded more than 500,000 times. For more information visit www.knittedknockers.org. To get become a volunteer knitters at Blessing click here to learn more.