Leslye's Blog

Jan 21, 2025

The fires are on all our minds. I think we all know someone who was affected by them. One of our dearest friends lost their house in the Palisades fire. Happily for them, they now live in N CA but their son and his family lived in the house. The young family are musicians so not only did they lose their home, but also their livelihoods. We have been in contact with them, trying to be supportive, and they sent us the loveliest note, which has bearing on what we Handmaidens do. Here is an excerpt:

We met some of our dearest friends last night who bought us dinner and gave us 3 suitcases’ worth of basics. Everything is so practical and useful but beyond that, there are so many soft and snuggly items in there. It just made us cry to hold these soft pajamas and fleeces and clothes and it felt so good to put them on. It made me truly understand what you and Handmade have been giving to so many people in crisis for so many years, the simplest tactile comfort is so powerful.

I thought about what he wrote all day today. After all, we started shipping for 2025, a week late, but at least we started. We had a good day. We sent 705 comfort scarves to 25 shelters. Several of our shelters have let me know that they have been taking in fire survivors. So we chose to ship to those shelters first and we added extra scarves because we understand how comforting our soft, beautiful scarves are—to fire survivors or abuse survivors or trafficking survivors. Ann, Chris N, Elizabeth N, and I did the shipping. Just part of what we want to do. We’ll do more next week when we have more wrapped scarves.

As you know, the shelters love receiving our comfort scarves. I have been saving thank you letters to share with you since the end of last year. These handwritten notes express how valuable our scarves are to the shelters and to the women who come to them.

I hope you can read them. They will warm your heart. They certainly warmed mine. WSLB is from WomenShelter Long Beach, WCHD is Women’s Center High Desert, in Ridgecrest, and the third note is from Interval House in Seal Beach. Handmade ships all over CA!

Love, Leslye

Dec 14, 2024

Handmade just had its holiday party. I said a few words at the party and hope you will enjoy reading them. The party was lots of fun, as you will see in the photos below.

Every year I tell you “It takes a village” to make a comfort scarf. And it does. We’re the village. It takes all of us to achieve the huge accomplishment Handmade has done this year: 8,735 scarves, 1,470 hats and almost 600 other items. 186,300 scarves alone since we started in 2008.

How does our village do this? We start with generous yarn donors—both yarn companies and committed individuals, who contribute fabulous yarn, all textures and colors. We go through miles and miles of yarn every week, kind of like the “hungry Caterpillar” on her way to becoming a beautiful butterfly.

Once we have yarn. What happens next? It goes to the measurers. We have two groups. One group measures the Bs and another group measures fun fur. Once we have these two essential components, we’re ready to make Magic Balls.

I assemble the three parts to every kit: the A yarn, the B yarn and the fun fur. Another group of volunteers winds these 3 yarns into “Magic Balls,” the essence of Handmade’s scarf making program.

What do we do with all these Magic Balls. First, we share them with knitters who come to Michael’s on Wednesday afternoon. Some scarf makers pick up Magic Balls at 3 other locations: Anneliese’s, Rose’s, and Theresa’s. Special volunteers make sure these locations have plenty of kits and pick up the finished scarves.

We also ship Magic Balls to knitting groups in CA, such as the Bonita Friends of Handmade, and to individuals throughout the US.

There are many more volunteers involved in Handmade. Some open boxes containing scarves, yarn, and other items that come from volunteers throughout the US. Others prepare finished scarves for shipping, making sure they all have signed gift tags. Then another group of volunteers “wraps” the scarves at our fabulous wrapping parties. Finally, the “shippers” pack the wrapped scarves into boxes that we send to 70 + shelters for abused and homeless women throughout CA.

Generous donors contribute money to defray the cost of shipping. My biggest experience with inflation has been the dramatic increase in the cost of shipping, which has almost doubled, and of Caron One Pound yarn, the major source of the A yarn in our kits whose has increased from $5.99 to $11.99 a skein. Luckily we have very generous donors.

Volunteers also maintain the website, keep the books, issue reports, work on publicity, print the gift tags, and on and on and on.

Yes, Handmade is a huge village. We always have space for more participants. You don’t have to be a knitter or crocheter to join. We’ll include you.

What’s the impact of our scarves? We do all this work, but what’s the result? We receive personal thank you letters from many of our shelters. They tell us how important our scarves are. Here are some comments from the shelters, each emphasizing a different aspect of what’s wonderful about comfort scarves and Handmade:

Kamila Oseka, at the Downtown Women’s Center, says our scarves help overcome isolation: The scarves are wonderful. Your generous donation is a heartwarming gift for our Residents. Many of them are estranged from their loved ones and handmade items have a very special meaning to them during the Holidays.

Carol Williams, Executive Director at Interval House in Seal Beach, wrote a formal thank you letter and included handwritten notes from a few of the women. Here’s part of one from Cecilia who stresses her love for the scarf: I want to say a special thanks. I tend to get really cold, really easily, & when we came into the shelter, I didn’t bring my coat. I was so grateful for the warm, cozy scarf I received there. I’ve not gone one day without wearing it. It has really helped me & I want you to know that. Thank you so much!

Gary McDonald, Executive Director of Stand Up Placer in Auburn, says our scarves make his clients feel remembered: We would like to thank you for your donation of scarves and a shawl. These items are so appreciated by our Clients especially at this time of year. The warmth of a soft scarf lets them know they are thought of.

Ariel Reyes, CEO at Women’s Resource Center in Oceanside, says our scarves give her clients hope: When families come to WRC for help, they often have nothing but the clothes on their backs. As they begin to rebuild their lives, they need continued support. . . We can never thank you enough for your donation of 25 handmade comfort scarves. . . Through your support we are able to say yes to families who need our help.

Carla Charraga, Executive Director at Siskiyou DV & Crisis Center in Yreka, says her clients love that the scarves are so beautiful and how they are wrapped: Thank you for your donation of 25 comfort scarves made by Handmade volunteers. . . The timing of this gift was impeccable. We are now experiencing freezing temperatures, and more people need items to keep warm. We are receiving so many compliments, including compliments on how they are wrapped as a lovely gift. We appreciate these wonderful scarves. Our clients could not be more thankful. We are so grateful to hand out these beautiful scarves all because of your hard work, dedication and talent. Thank you for thinking of us and the clients we serve.

Wow. Each note one was so moving, each in different ways. All confirm the importance of our scarves for those who receive them. Making comfort scarves for abused women and hats for their children makes them feel valuable and it makes us feel pretty good too. We feel creative, productive, helpful, impactful. Hearing how shelters love what we send makes me feel elated. I am so proud of what we all do together.

In addition, we enjoy each other’s friendship and companionship. We are busy. Yes, we are retired, but we’re still in the thick of life, making important contributions. We’re a wonderful team! I feel so lucky to work with you.

In general, Handmade tries to avoid “politics” because many in our group have so many different opinions. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I feel I must speak out and urge you to support abused women in two political ways as well as by making comfort scarves. First, support abortion legislation and work against legislation limiting abortion. Abused women experience partner rape, date rape, incest, etc. Pregnant, they do not want to give birth to a baby conceived during an abusive encounter. Abortion is a crucial option for them. Second, support limiting gun availability and urge requiring background checks as a precondition of a gun purchase. Statistics show that when a weapon is present during abuse, the woman is 50% more likely to be killed.

Finally, thank you all, again and again, for all you have done and do for abused women by participating in Handmade. I know we make a difference, and the difference we make is important. Keep up your good work. As of today, we have delivered 186,300 comfort scarves. Maybe we’ll reach 200,000 in 2025. Please KEEP YOUR NEEDLES CLICKING!

Love,

Leslye