Shamrocks for Ukraine: A Fundraiser
With a Ukrainian crochet pattern and Irish wool, I set my hands to make a small symbol, a gesture of solidarity, and raised over five hundred euro for the UNICEF and Red Cross Ukrainian crisis appeals.
The shamrock pattern I used is by Antonina, a crochet maker and designer based in Kherson, Ukraine, whose work I found through the Limerick Lace community page on Facebook. Antonina sells great PDF patterns on her Etsy page (look for CrochetWithTonya). She makes easy-to-follow patterns for all kinds of Irish crochet motifs, including many that I’m familiar with from my Granny’s lace work. When I saw that Antonina gives permission for items made with this pattern to be sold, the idea of a small fundraiser began to form.
With Saint Patrick’s Day and Seachtain na Gaeilge coming up, and the urgent and increasing needs of those fleeing the invasion, I knew this would have to come together briskly. The next step was to find the right yarn, and make them real Saturn Cottage Industries pieces, so the search began for natural and local wool. After initially buying a sample of their 100% Irish wool from Irish sheep to test out, Miriam from Cushendale Woollen Mills in County Kilkenny reached out to offer me some more of their wool yarns for the fundraising effort. Just a couple of days later I received a large bag of bits of pieces and suddenly the scope of the fundraiser was much greater than I had envisioned!
It was a Saturn Cottage dream to use beautiful, natural, local yarns made right here in Ireland for crafting these small gestures of cultural pride and solidarity with Ukraine.
I am grateful to everyone who bought from or shared this fundraiser, your support was the conduit for me being able to donate my skills and time to supporting the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
On Saint Patrick’s Day this year, I hope these handmade Shamrocks for Ukraine, make your “wearing of the green” more poignant than ever. I split the final proceeds equally between the two organisations, and made my donations via An Post, who are currently waiving fees on such payments. The final donations are:
