Christine first learned to crochet at age six, from her grandmother, Jeannette. Many years later, Christine found herself picking up the craft once again to make scarves for people who helped her during her two terms as president of the Adoption Guild of Southern Orange County. The first piece of inspiration for Knots of Love came from her son Geoff, who encouraged Christine to make beanies. The second piece of inspiration to make stylish, soft, head-warming "chemo caps" for people fighting cancer came from a friend of Christine's who was a cancer survivor herself and said, "I wish I had a cozy cap to wear after a long day of working and wearing of an itchy, scratchy, uncomfortable wig."
Christine immediately began looking for a place to donate all the caps that she had made... but she couldn't find anyone providing people undergoing chemo with free hats -- so she decided to start doing it herself -- and thus Knots of Love was born on June 24th, 2007, with the mission of making and distributing chemo caps, at no charge, to those in need of some loving warmth.
The first batch of 25 cozy caps were made, packaged, and delivered to local cancer patients and survivors who had lost their hair. The response was overwhelmingly positive! People who received the hats couldn't believe they were free and handmade by someone who cared. The loving act of making a cap for an unknown friend was almost, if not more impactful, than the physical warmth and style the caps themselves provide. (This is where the term "warming hearts and heads" comes from, which is still used to this day.) Christine remembers feeling so good while making and delivering the caps that she thought other crocheters and knitters might like to make them in their spare time as well. She reached out to friends and family offering to teach the new recruits to knit and crochet. Everyone loved contributing and soon Knots of Love was granted our 501c3 charity status and all donations then became 100% tax deductible.
As the early, burgeoning Knots of Love family of knitters and crocheters worked to make and deliver caps, Christine quickly noticed that the more caps delivered, the bigger the need grew. Thankfully, volunteers started showing up asking to help and more people joined to make caps. By the end of year one, the group's goal of providing 10,000 free hats was exceeded by 2,000+! Success! The team quickly built a distribution network from scratch and are now regularly delivering caps and blankets to over 580 locations in the USA -- and to date has warmed the hearts and heads of over 700,000 people!
The amazing teamwork and support that powers Knots of Love is awesome, and we thank The Lord for the ability to do this work and how blessed we are to have such an amazing community of charity knitters and crocheters. This group of passionate and purposeful people truly make a meaningful, positive difference in the lives of so many adults, children, families, and veterans who wear the lovingly handmade hats they've received. We at Knots of Love HQ are so very grateful to be a small part of this great organization. All the credit and glory goes to God!
Over the years, Knots of Love has won many awards, including Christine's 2009 Humanitarian Award from the Women’s Cancer Research Foundation, American Cancer Society, and more.
The organization was honored by 5 living presidents at the 2009 All Star Baseball Game in St. Louis Missouri, The United States Congress House of Representatives in 2018, and The Mayor of Costa Mesa in 2015.
Woman's World Magazine's named Knot of Love's makers Everyday Heros!
Christine was featured in named one of 20 Women to Watch by OC Metro Magazine, Alumni Of the Year, and was honored by Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCI.
Knots of Love was awarded Top Rated Nonprofit for the 5th consecutive year by Great Nonprofits.
The only reason we've made the large scale and
meaninful impact we've been blessed to make and received any awards and recognition, is because of God. All the glory and credit goes to Him.
Ministry TransformationThe most important development in our history was in 2025 and 2026 when we
dedicated the organization to Jesus and became a ministry. It was Jesus helping us all along, as He patiently waited for us to see that, and come to Him.
