‘Knitted knockers’ catch on
Knitters are taking up a worldwide initiative to help restore the confidence of breast cancer survivors .
Needle and yarn are used to make ‘‘knitted knockers’’ – prosthetic breasts which can be comfortably worn by mastectomy patients after surgery.
Diana Carroll began making them 18 months ago ‘‘in a nod’’ to her mother-in-law who had breast cancer and was an advocate for breast screening.
She decided to get involved after reading about the knitted knockers movement which began in the United States and has since gone international.
Sizes A through E are made with cotton or mixed cottonbamboo yarns. They are then stuffed with a synthetic filler, the Upper Hutt woman said.
Custom sizes and colours are also possible with more elaborate designs including a nipple.
The knitted prosthetics are less irritating to tender areas than rubber equivalents after surgery.
According to the Breast Cancer Foundation about 1600 Kiwi women have mastectomies after being diagnosed with breast cancer every year. About 3300 women and 25 men a year are diagnosed with breast cancer.
Upper Hutt woman Mary Mooring had a single mastectomy in 2013.
Feeling self-conscious following her operation, Mooring wanted to use a prosthetic but found rubber ones heavy and uncomfortable.
‘‘The knitted knockers I would use if I was going out and wanted to wear a dress or wanted to feel girly. I think they are great. When I had one breast they helped me feel more confident.’’
Initially her concern was that her chest did not look even but the former competitive body builder wanted to maintain an active lifestyle and said the rubber prosthetics had a tendency to come loose. ‘‘I was teaching a hydro-aerobics class at the pool when it kind of flew out.
‘‘Someone dived under the water and came up with it and they were like: what the hell is this? I can laugh at it now but at the time I was so embarrassed.’’
Mooring’s friend, Jane Upton, also from Upper Hutt, was diagnosed with breast cancer around the same time. She had chosen not to have breast reconstruction surgery or to wear prosthetics following her double mastectomy but understood how much a prosthetic could do for a woman’s confidence.
‘‘[They are] brilliant. You’ve lost a huge part of you and it gives people hope and makes them feel normal. For some women it’s vital that they have their breasts as they were.’’ Upton said she was part of the ‘‘flat revolution’’.
‘‘The main thing was that breasts don’t define us as women.
‘‘[My daughter] Kate was at an age [when] there is pressure to look a certain way. I felt I was a role model to the young ones.’’