A huge heartfelt thank you to all the women who have supported my Bust Buddies campaign.
The idea of knitting breast ‘accessories’ began several years ago when Liz Knapp invited me to teach a class using the free pattern provided by Knitted Knockers. Immediately I had concerns, but the most jarring were the comments from both men and women about the name: breast cancer is not a joke they assured me. Trust me, I know.
With the help of Arlene Shaposhnick, Janet White, Liz Walters, and other very dedicated knitters and friends, I created an easier approach to the pattern. We agreed on the name Softies to differentiate the two patterns. Still a bit finicky to start, I turned Softies upside down and I named this new approach Bust Buddies. Linda Hart designed a pattern she named Knitty Titty and Beryl Tsang designed a pair she named Tit Bits. I call the patterns collectively Bust Buddies – knit the pattern you like because they all do the same thing – they change lives. Scroll down for links to the patterns.
Beryl shares a snippet of a conversation. Arriving at a party, a friend of hers commented, “You really did a great job! Your left breast looks almost as good as the right one – a bit lumpy but very realistic,” to which Beryl replied, “You know, it was my right breast that was removed.”
Pat Anderson and her groups of “Buzoomers” of Escondido knit Busters from the Knitted Knockers pattern. She calls these ‘accessories,’ avoiding the name prosthetics because Pat believes that they become a wonderful way to accessorize our femininity. Pat had a double mastectomy in August 2006.
My dear friend Marina Kahn joined me at oh-dark hour the morning of Race for the Cure as we gave away Bust Buddies. Many of these amazingly heroic women shared their success stories. I have participated in three breast cancer walks and to date we have donated about forty-five dozen pairs of Bust Buddies – that’s five hundred and forty pairs.
When asked if I plan to stop hosting the campaign, the answer is no. I will continue because the disease continues. I plan to host three free classes during the coming year. Everything about Bust Buddies is free, except for the needles you choose to work with. Watch for future announcements
Patterns links
Bust Buddies: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bust-buddies
Softies: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/softies
Knitted Knockers: https://www.knittedknockers.org/
Linda Hart – Knitty Titty: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knitty-titty
Beryl Tsang – Tit Bits: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html
