The Shamrock Swamp

New Address!

2009-08-17T02:31:00.003-05:00

Shamrock Swamp can now be found at http://www.shamrockswamp.com complete with a blog! Thanks for your continued support, and please keep an eye out for the new products which will be uploaded this week and available for immediate purchase!

Slán go fóill
Katie

Next project?

2009-07-28T02:20:00.002-05:00

Dianne's Blanket Of Love will be finished within the next few days! I have been promised a camera on Saturday, so pictures will be posted, and more (and better!) product pictures will be put up.

Starting next week I will be gearing up for a few things:
-The Mobile Market on the Square, where I hope to be able to set up shop on a regular basis!
-The Pink Hat Brigade - Hats for Susan G Komen walkers.

I am looking for a big project to do between now and October, and I want your suggestions! Comment here. Winning idea gets a prize, to be determined.

Updates

2009-07-19T15:55:00.002-05:00

I am about 2/3 finished with the Blanket of Love for Dianne, but we still need donations and purchases to finish it.

I am going to soon be offering a special pink hat for the Susan G. Komen Three-Day Walk. Proceeds will go to this organization. If you are walking, you can receive a special discount. We will be sponsoring a limited number of walkers as well. To donate and sponsor our first walker, click here.

Further updates, photos and more coming soon.

Blanket of Love, a hospice care outreach

2009-06-27T03:11:00.010-05:00

Hello friends.

As many of you know, my sister has spent the last ten years battling metastatic breast cancer. The disease has progressed, seemingly undaunted by chemo and radiation therapies. Now, she has gone off of conventional medicine and has started in a hospice program for palliative care. Yet she never loses hope, I think. In her blog entries, she talks about how thankful she is for the "blanket of love" that her friends and family have wrapped around her. And it is in her honor that I present the Blanket of Love program.

My sister taught me to knit when I was eight or ten. So it is her hands, her love that taught me the skills by which I want to honor her now. Every stitch that I make is wrapped with my sister's love. And so she has also wrapped me in a "blanket of love," both literally and figuratively.

There are people in the world, in our communities, who are suffering the same pain that she is suffering but do not have the "blanket of love" that is provided figuratively by the support of their friends and family.

Dianne is one such woman. Long estranged from her family, a survivor of abuse, she is now facing a sudden and fast-progressing cancer in her kidneys and pancreas. Doctors have deemed the disease untreatable and are providing only palliative care. Her prognosis is bleak. Her doctor estimates six months.

During this time, I want to wrap Dianne in a Blanket of Love - literally. I have three skeins of Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in Prairie. This is enough to start her blanket, but I will need another five skeins to complete it. You can help! There are two options, listed below.

Option 1: Buy a hat! I am currently offering my fishnet lace "Beret La Batre" for sale. Proceeds will go to Dianne, first for making her blanket, and then to the purchase of food, medication, or whatever else is needed. Buy this hat for $20, and $10 will go to wrapping Dianne in a blanket of love - literally and figuratively. Hat is shown here in light blue. Please pardon the less-than-stellar photography. My camera is currently on hiatus (God only knows where it is!), and my model is still awake at 4:00am after spending all day making hats for NICU babies...

Option 2: Donate any amount by clicking the Donate button below. 100% of the funds will go to Dianne, again first for her blanket and then to her other needs.

Thank you for your help.

Katie

NICU project

2009-06-26T14:00:00.002-05:00

More hats like this (and many other styles!) will be donated to the University of South Alabama Women and Children's hospital.

Your donations for the purchase of yarn for these hats is greatly appreciated. Remember, anyone who donates $2 or more will be entered into a drawing to win a special prize.

Donation Station

2009-06-25T22:47:00.003-05:00

This is where you may choose to donate money which will be spent on yarn to make projects for the local NICU, chemo patients, and the Rainbow Bridge Navajo reservation. Please feel free to specify the colors of yarn you would like purchased with each donation exceeding $6. Any amount is greatly appreciated, and will go solely to the purchase of materials for charity projects.

Every person who donates at least $2 will be entered into a drawing to win a special prize.

For the NICU projects:

For chemo patients:

For the Navajo Reservation:

Shamrock Swamp Charity Projects

2009-06-24T18:23:00.005-05:00

Gulf Coast Gifts, and by extension, the Shamrock Swamp is devoted to maintaining a spirit of giving and charity. Every item purchased on any of our sites will go to benefit national and local charities.

July is National Alzheimer's Awareness month. During the month of July, 10% of all proceeds from Shamrock Swamp will go to benefit the Alzheimer's Association.

Additionally, for every hat or toy purchased from The Shamrock Swamp, one hat will be given to the University of South Alabama Women and Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For every five hats purchased, one hat will be sent to Rainbow Bridge Navajo Reservation. And for all items which are primarily pink in color, an additional 5% will be donated to the Young Survival Coalition. Additionally, I would be glad to take donations to help me purchase yarn with which to make items for the local NICU and chemo unit and for the Navajo reservation. These items will include hats, scarves, blankets, sweaters, etc.

Items for sale will be posted shortly along with a donation button.

2009-06-24T17:41:00.001-05:00

Hello. Welcome to The Shamrock Swamp, a branch of Gulf Coast Gifts featuring Irish and Cajun themed handmades! Please check here often for new items.