Knitting Confidence by Hand: How a 73-Year-Old Grandmother Turned Yarn into an Embrace for Tens of Thousands of Women

For women who have been through the fight against breast cancer, the day treatment ends doesn’t always mean all the pain ends with it… because the marks left by a mastectomy so often take away confidence and a sense of femininity, and leave behind a feeling of being a stranger in one’s own body.

But today, we have a wonderfully warm story from Mumbai, India. It is about Jayashree Ratan, a 73-year-old grandmother who, with nothing but knitting needles and yarn, has slowly been knitting “smiles and dignity” back for tens of thousands of women.

It all began on New Year’s Eve, as 2018 arrived. Jayashree went to a small gathering at the home of her daughter-in-law’s relative, and got talking to the host, who had had a mastectomy just four months earlier.

The woman told her how uncomfortable and difficult daily life had become, because the usual silicone prostheses on the market were expensive and heavy, and in India’s heat they became damp and irritated the surgical scar, so much so that many women chose to stay at home rather than face other people.

After listening, Jayashree, who loves crochet with all her heart, remembered reading about a project abroad that knitted breast prostheses from yarn. So she told the woman that very night, “I’ll knit one for you.”

And when she saw how much a small handmade gift could change the look in a woman’s eyes and give her back her confidence… she knew straight away that she couldn’t stop there.

That very weekend, she gathered her group of friends who also loved knitting, and together they founded a charity called “Saaisha India”, from a Sanskrit word meaning “a life with meaning”.

Jayashree and her friends hand-knit soft breast prostheses that they lovingly nicknamed “Knockers”, using the softest, best-quality cotton yarn from within the country. They are knitted to be lightweight, breathable and gentle on the skin, easy to wash, and last almost two years, and they come in every size to suit each woman’s body.

Most important of all… from the very beginning, Jayashree vowed that every single piece would be given “free”, at no cost whatsoever! And there would be no distinction of religion, caste or social status. Whoever needs help, they are ready to knit and send it straight to them.

From a small group of just 21 friends on the first day, the seeds of her kindness have grown into more than 350 volunteers spread across five countries! They give their spare time to sit and knit with love and send their work in.

Believe it or not, to date the project has given away more than 33,000 hand-knitted breast prostheses! And it has also knitted almost 4,000 cute woolly hats for little children going through chemotherapy.

So what Jayashree gives these women isn’t just a physical replacement. It is an embrace that tells them, “You are still beautiful, and you can step out of your home and live your life comfortably and gracefully again.”

Jayashree speaks about what she does with a warm smile: “We never imagined that giving just a few hours to knit each piece could touch and change so many people’s lives… and that is our greatest reward.”

Perhaps the power to heal wounds of the heart doesn’t come from anything complicated. Just care, knitted stitch by stitch with understanding and goodwill, can turn someone’s once-dark world bright again.

Having read this, we feel warm inside.

You see… this world is still a beautiful place to be.