Why would anyone knit a knocker?

The news was devastating. Bellingham mom and grandma Barb Demorest had breast cancer and needed a mastectomy.

“My doctor told me that the traditional breast prosthetics can be really hot and heavy and uncomfortable, so I asked him, ‘What am I going to do?'” Demorest said.

Her doctor had heard that some women were getting relief from knitted prosthetics made of soft, comfortable yarn. A friend knitted one for her to put in her bra and Demorest was amazed at the comfort.

“I just couldn’t believe that is was soft, it was comfortable it was light and I could wear it with a normal bra and it was free,” she said. “And it was made with love by a friend.”

It’s not a new idea. But Demorest had an a-ha moment &#8212 many women like her would love a knitted knocker, but couldn’t get their hands on one.

“I thought we’ve got to make a quality website that will equip and inspire knitters everywhere to make these to provide for their own communities,” Demorest said. “Because with over 50,000 mastectomies a year in the United States alone, 90 percent of those women will wear a breast prosthetic at least for a while.”

With the help of friends and family, Demorest provided downloadable patterns, video tutorials, and began attending events to recruit volunteer knitters. And the reception was overwhelming.

“We have given out … 5,000 knitted knockers, free, and that’s not counting all the groups equipped to provide for their own communities,” Demorest said.

She has received plenty of thanks for bringing the knitted knockers to so many women, and even an award from the Susan G. Komen Foundation that created a tidal wave of demand.

But she says what’s more moving is the individual stories she hears, like a woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer that found a little hope digging through a bag of knitted knockers at her doctor’s office; an oddball her friend made that stood out from the usual plain-colored prosthetics.

“And she said, ‘I looked through that bag and there was one jewel that shone brighter than the rest, it was orange and hairy, and it had purple specks and it made me smile at a really difficult time,'” Demorest recalled. “She said, ‘And my friend would marvel at the beauty of it when I whipped it out and showed it to them.'”

But bringing that little bit of light to all those women fighting breast cancer takes plenty of time, resources, and money. Demorest says she could always use more volunteers, donations, or people to simply spread the word and help even more &#8212 especially since her phone never stops ringing.

“It’s so funny. I’ll get a phone call from the doctor saying, ‘Barb we need more knitted knockers. Can you please bring some more in,'” she said. “It gives us great pleasure to do that. To provide for them.”