Thursday, January 20, 2011

Off topic Thurday - wool penguin sweaters!


I am posting this out of sheer cuteness! I know I have a lot of readers that knit, so i'm sure you can appreciate this. In January 2000, there was an oil spill in Australia that threatened Little penguins, or Fairy Penguins, lives. The oil reduced their natural insulation, and when they tried to preen they were poisoning themselves by ingesting the oil. Then came Penguin Jumpers Project, and 15,000 tiny sweaters were hand knit, by knitters around the world, for the penguins! You can read more about that here and here, but now for more cute pictures!



Oh, and they required that all the penguin sweaters be wool, because they needed to be insulated. Sigh... don't you just love wool? ;)

ETA: Another interesting wool fact in this story, is that salt water causes wool to break down faster. As these penguins were recovering and getting better, their sweaters were breaking down and falling off of them, in perfect timing. Now I don't know if acrylic yarn would have fallen off of them in the same timing or not, but I do know that the ocean is better off with bits of biodegradable natural wool, than acrylic!


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20 comments:

  1. Anne MageeJanuary 20, 2011 at 4:17 AM

    OMG! That is totally adorable!

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  2. UnknownJanuary 20, 2011 at 4:32 AM

    This is just awesome, I am passing it on to the owner of our wool store here in town

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  3. DanielleJanuary 20, 2011 at 4:48 AM

    Too cute!

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  4. Anjou KrelovichJanuary 20, 2011 at 5:03 AM

    Okay, the pictures are adorable and I just love that someone thought of this. What a cool story!

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  5. jillJanuary 20, 2011 at 5:17 AM

    just waaaayyyy to cute. Must link this from my Facebook site!!

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  6. BrendaJanuary 20, 2011 at 5:38 AM

    This is the most inspiring story that I have heard in awhile! Bless those knitters hands, and I must say... they made them rather fashionably colored and stylish!! ;)

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  7. ChristyJanuary 20, 2011 at 5:49 AM

    I can't wait to show this story to my dd. She loves penguins.

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  8. Mary KeenanJanuary 20, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    I love that people put stripes into their sweaters, too - those penguins look like they're all set for college!

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  9. teekarooJanuary 20, 2011 at 11:06 AM

    What fashionable penguins! That would have been a sight to see.

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  10. Mrs. Small HouseJanuary 20, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    According to the local aquarium it's National Penguin Awareness Day today. I thought it was cool you posted this :)

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  11. ResweaterJanuary 21, 2011 at 5:07 AM

    Really? I didn't know that, so really great timing on my part!

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  12. UpcyclerJanuary 21, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    My 11 year old was pleased to hear that they breakdown in the water. She was worried that they would felt more and shrink, and the penguins would say, "aaagghhh, too tight!"

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  13. ResweaterJanuary 21, 2011 at 1:23 PM

    LOL!

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  14. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2011 at 1:27 PM

    the oil spill in australia was years ago. more than 5 years. there are no penguins needing jumpers in australia. save your time and money. the national park just throws them out now if they are sent as they are a nuisance.

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  15. ResweaterJanuary 21, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    Anonymous, If you read my post, you would see that this took place in 2000, 11 years ago. Nowhere in my post did I imply that sweaters were needed, just pointing out a cute story in history.
    Also, you may want to check your facts about the sweaters. Though it is true that they no longer need them for the penguins themselves, they certainly do not throw them out. They put them on stuffed animals & sell them. All proceeds from the sale of these jumpers go to the 'Rehab centre' for the treatment of injured penguins and other wildlife.

    http://shop.penguins.org.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=garden_flypage.tpl&product_id=55&category_id=8&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6

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  16. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2011 at 11:20 PM

    what a great wee story, thank you for sharing...

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  17. Loris GlassworksJanuary 22, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    So cute! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. stepholiveiraJanuary 22, 2011 at 12:09 PM

    I follow your blog and love all the fun ideas...I'm a wool addict now!

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  19. stepholiveiraJanuary 22, 2011 at 12:09 PM

    I'm one of the 500 on facebook too!

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  20. Sue H @ Astrachic StudioJanuary 23, 2011 at 7:07 PM

    Hi, Because I am an Aussie this
    post made me smile brightly.
    That I haven't seen the pictures
    before surprises me.
    Glad to know that so many talented
    wool knitters happily got involved
    for such a special cause makes
    me smile too.
    Thanks for sharing,
    Sue

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