What began as one woman searching for comfort after a mastectomy has grown into a worldwide movement of compassion, connection, and care.
At Knitted Knockers, we often talk about the “ripple effect” and how a single act of kindness can spread farther than anyone could ever imagine. Every knitted or crocheted pair represents not only comfort for the recipient, but also the love and generosity of the person who made it.
This is the story of how that ripple began and how it continues to grow every day.
Mid 2000s — A Simple Idea Begins
The person most often credited with creating the first widely known knitted breast prosthesis is Beryl Tsang. She is a Canadian fiber artist and breast cancer survivor who founded a project called “Tit-Bits: Hand Knitted Breasts.”
According to published accounts, after her own mastectomy, Beryl was unhappy with the weight, discomfort, and appearance of traditional silicone prostheses. Being an experienced knitter, she designed a lightweight knitted alternative for herself. That project became Tit-Bits. The comfort and practicality of the design quickly became clear, and she began sharing the pattern online with other women in her local community.
What started as one woman helping another soon became something much bigger.
2007–2010 — Grassroots Kindness Spreads
Around 2007, Chesley Flotten from Maine adapted /promoted knitted prostheses through her shop, the Knitting Experience Cafe. She named the hand-knit breast forms, “Knitted Knockers”. As women began sharing their experiences with knitted knockers, interest spread rapidly through word of mouth, knitting groups, and media coverage.
Volunteers across the country started making and donating knitted knockers to women recovering from breast cancer surgery. The idea resonated deeply because it combined practical comfort with something equally important: care from another human being.
Each package represented more than a prosthesis. It represented empathy, dignity, and support during a difficult season of life.
2011 — A Mission Takes Shape
After her own breast cancer journey, Barbara Demorest recognized how meaningful knitted knockers could be for women around the world.
With Chesley’s blessing, Barb stepped in to help expand and organize the growing effort. What had begun as a grassroots act of kindness started evolving into a larger volunteer-driven mission focused on making knitted knockers freely available to any breast cancer survivor who needed them. A domain name was acquired, and Knittedknockers.org was born.
The heart of the organization was simple: Women helping women.
2014 — Becoming an Official Nonprofit
As demand continued to grow, Knitted Knockers Support Foundation officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
This milestone helped create the infrastructure needed to:
- Connect volunteers with recipients
- Partner with medical clinics and breast cancer centers
- Centralize educational resources and patterns
- Coordinate nationwide and international distribution
The launch of the Knitted Knockers website made it easier than ever for women to request knockers and for volunteers to learn how to make them.
Over time, the free patterns would be downloaded more than one million times.
2016 — National Recognition & International Impact
Knitted Knockers stepped onto the national stage in 2016 when the organization was featured in the beloved Dear Abby column. The response was overwhelming!
Women from across the country reached out to request knockers, and a wave of new volunteers stepped forward, eager to help. Awareness of the organization grew rapidly, bringing comfort and hope to thousands more women navigating breast cancer recovery.
That October, the organization’s reach extended far beyond U.S. borders when representatives of Knitted Knockers traveled to Rwanda. Partnering with the Breast Cancer Initiative of East Africa (BCIEA), they trained 30 women to make knitted knockers for the women of their own country. The story captured the attention of national media, who helped spread the word — breaking the stigma surrounding breast cancer and bringing this deeply personal conversation out into the open.
The ripple effect had crossed borders.
2017–2019 — Building a Global Network
As the organization grew, partnerships with hospitals, breast cancer clinics, and community groups expanded across the United States and beyond.
Volunteer makers formed knitting and crocheting groups in communities around the world. Standardized patterns and educational videos helped ensure quality, comfort, and consistency while still preserving the handmade heart behind every pair.
During this time:
- Hundreds of medical providers joined the network
- Thousands of volunteers began contributing
- International partnerships continued to grow
Sharing Comfort Around the World
Knitted Knockers’ mission soon reached women far beyond the United States.
In Rwanda, women who often had no access to reconstruction or traditional prostheses received knitted knockers free of charge. Local women were also trained to make them for hospitals within their own communities.
That spirit of empowerment continued spreading when a team from Kenya learned from the Rwandan volunteers and began supporting women in Kenya as well.
What began with one handmade knocker in Maine was now changing lives across continents.
Today — A Worldwide Community of Compassion
Today, Knitted Knockers supports women in all 50 U.S. states and more than 76 countries.
The organization now works alongside:
- Thousands of volunteer knitters and crocheters
- Thousands of medical clinics and breast care centers
- Community groups and nonprofit partners around the world
Together, this volunteer-powered network provides thousands of knitted knockers every month — always free of charge.
Many volunteers first discovered Knitted Knockers after receiving one themselves. Their gratitude inspired them to learn to knit or crochet so they could help another woman in return.
That is the ripple effect in action.
The Ripple Continues
As Knitted Knockers continues to grow, one thing remains unchanged: the mission of freely sharing comfort, hope, and kindness with women facing breast cancer recovery.
From one woman’s idea to a global community of volunteers, the ripple continues with every pair made, every package mailed, and every life touched.
And it all began with one simple act of kindness.