Colorado’s Great Knockers Again group just fulfilled their 1,000th request via the Knitted Knockers website! Gathering at Piney Creek Yarn in Centennial, CO, the team serves the metro Denver area from south of Parker, north to Longmont and Brighton, and west to Lakewood! Our group of dedicated crafters began hosting monthly meetings in October 2017, gathering monthly in camaraderie to create Knitted Knockers. At each subsequent month’s meeting Knockers were collected, then stuffed, packaged and mailed — 6 sets by the end of that first year. We built relationships with medical clinics and recruited new members – helping to fulfill requests and distribute 975 Knockers by the end of 2018. By the end of 2019, we had supplied a total of 1,597 knitted and crocheted Knockers to Colorado breast cancer survivors! At the start of 2020, our Great Knockers Again crew totaled 30 members and we were stocking 16 Denver-area medical clinics and participating in a wide range of breast cancer awareness events to help spread the word about Knitted Knockers.
In pre-Covid times, we held two annual Knit-a-Thon events — hosting 85 attendees the first year and 110 crafters at our second event. It was heartwarming to see so many sharing an enthusiasm for knitting and crocheting mobilized to help stock us with Knockers! New friendships formed at our Knit-a-Thons soon led to the launch of a second monthly meeting gathering one evening per month at our local library, or as they like to say: “We Knit Our Knockers at Night.”
If the safer-at-home Covid-19 restrictions have shown us anything, it is the generosity and thoughtfulness of our crafters. With a “What else do I have to do?” mentality, Great Knockers Again members have dedicated their pandemic time to “stay home and craft on.” When we were able to safely collect their creations, more than 200 Knockers were delivered to a socially distanced table outside our usual meeting place, Piney Creek Yarn! After gathering so many completed Knockers, our next month’s project was a “Grab and Go” stuffing event – providing volunteers all the pieces needed to stuff and package 455 Knockers for distribution.
With our Knitted Knockers supplies well-stocked, we are dedicating the 2020 holiday season to creating chemo hats for clinics serving men and women fighting cancer, as well as providing acrylic/wool blend hats, scarves, and gloves that won’t freeze when they get wet for the “Hats for the Homeless” project. Since shifting to creating hats our volunteers have already supplied 34 chemo hats to clinics and are working on a variety of warm items which will be delivered directly to Denver area homeless camps.
Thanks to the dedication, enthusiasm, generosity, and flexibility of all of our crafters, we have continually shifted focus to respond to our community during these unpredictable times. We thank Knitted Knockers Support Foundation for their tireless support and advice.
Thank you Great Knockers Again for providing comfort and dignity to those in need!