Forget Penguin Jumpers, Knit a Marsupial Pouch!

October 17, 2014 by Sarah White 3 Comments

I don’t know how great a demand there really is for handknit marsupial pouches, or if it really is like the sweaters for penguins thing that comes around every couple of years when in fact sweaters for penguins are not really needed (charities sell them on stuffed penguins, so they do help, but not in the way you might think).

So I was a little skeptical when a link talking about knitting pouches for marsupials appeared in my Facebook feed, but it looks like there are a few wildlife rehabilitation places in Australia that use the bags to keep babies warm.

Take this, for example, from WIRES Northern Rivers‘ donation site:

Having joeys in care not only takes time with chores such as feeding many times throughout the night and day, cleaning enclosures, making bottles etc etc. Each joey be that a possum, glider, macropod or tiny Bandicoot needs a pouch.

and

The size of pouches vary greatly depending on the stage of development of the joey in need and unfortunately with washing regularly, the life span of a pouch is not unlimited and as such the need for pouches is always great for marsupial carers.

While they say they have dedicated sewers and knitters who regularly provide pouches, more are always needed. The Kangaloola Wildlife Shelter also mentions pouches (though their patterns are for the fleece lining only).

If you want to knit a pouch for a joey, they like 100 percent wool outer parts lined with washable fleece or cotton. You can find more information here. They like them just in garter stitch, so knitters of any skill level can help.

[Photo via WIRES.]

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Comments

Peta says
April 8, 2015 at 9:43 pm
There was a need for penguin jumpers after an oil spill. To clean it off they have to use detergent and it removes the natural oil that coats their feathers keeping them water-proof and cold repellant. Joeys pouches (all marsupial animals grow in a pouch) are needed by all kinds of rescue groups in Australia
dougalco says
January 13, 2020 at 9:31 am
The PDF link fails to load for some reason.
Sarah White says
January 13, 2020 at 9:42 am
They might have removed it; this post was written several years ago. I hunted around and found another page with more information: https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-macropod-pouches

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Christmas Stocking Knitting Patterns for Your Pets

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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