Penguins need sweaters

Look at 'im in 'is widdle swedder. Just look at 'im.

Seriously, though, apparently penguins caught up in oil spills sometimes need sweaters to keep them from preening their feathers and ingesting toxic oil. The Skeinz yarn store is looking for people to knit penguin sweaters. They even provide instructions on how to do it.

Also, come on. Penguin sweaters.

Thanks, Noah Hall!

Software developer and GIF archivist in San Francisco. Follow me on Twitter.

MORE: cute • Delightful Creatures • penguin • sweater

More at Boing Boing

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Hackers prepare for first "national holiday" in their honor

grimc

“Don’t fall for it.”

- Dogs
xzzy

And what purpose does a bed made of paperback books serve? Keeps their toes from chafing?
lurker_erin

I can’t “just look” at ‘im. He isn’t a banana.
Shibi_SF

Where are his real flappers? Do they think that he doesn’t notice the stuffed animal arms?
- David James
  
  Presumably he’d notice this at the same time that he realized the rest of him is a stuffed animal too…
http://twitter.com/carolynirene carolyn Riddlenoblet

here is a NZ tweet that better explains

Can you knit? Penguin jumpers needed for #NewZealand penguins affected by oil spill. http://www.skeinz.com/Newsletters/spring2011.html #knitting
David James

My wife’s grandmother keeps knitting dishrags and handing them out to the family in bulk… This would be a way better use of her time.
- Guest
  
  I salute your grandmother-in-law. Knitting in cotton is hard on the hands, since the fiber has no real elasticity, and the tension to achieve gauge must be held by the knitter’s throwing hand.
  
  I’ve been knitting these for family and friends since my grandmother passed away. I’ve probably knit 20 of them since August, to meet their requests. Once you’ve used handknit dishclothes, it’s tough to go back to those thin, cheap store-bought ones.
Their feldspars

It’s the year of the penguin on the desktop!
aynrandspenismighty

Can’t you just wring them out ala Futurama?
Matthew Holloway

They make these for parrots out of t-shirt material – they often develop a kind of OCD which causes them to pluck out their feathers, and the little t-shirts prevent that. I’m wondering if these penguin sweaters need to be knitted, or can they be sewn from a cheap fabric? It would definitely be more efficient.
http://twitter.com/msbnana Niki Marinis

I am so down with this. I love knitting and these would be quick to whip up. Let’s get it on!!
tewsday

Someone please knit them little tuxedo sweaters!
- Guest
  
  How about some in gold lame (cannot put l’accent aigu)? :D
- blisschick
  
  They did. If you check out some of the pics, you can see a sweater with a little bow tie. Never underestimate knitters.
Miss Cellania

This is the spring newsletter. Do they still need sweaters?
- Alpacaman
  
  It is Spring in New Zealand (where the oil spill happened) atm – so, yeah, they probably do still need sweaters
pjcamp

I don’t get it. Where’s the banana?
jcartan

In 2000 a similar call went out for 100 penguin sweaters and over 15,000 were received. Skeins (the yarn shop cited) says they already have enough sweaters.

theyarnkitchen.blogspot.com
teapot

This is so adorable that I thought I should pixel me up a real penguin wearing one.
karen kessel

actually, snopes has it as true! if you read, the pic of stuffed animal was posted by one of the knitters- doesn’t mean they don’t actually go to real penguins. http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/penguins.asp