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Help The Penguins….

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So apparently there was an oil spill somewhere around New Zealand. I apologize that I do not spend time watching or reading the news. As a matter of fact, really, the only tv I watch is when my Red Wings play their own unique brand of hockey.  But never mind about that.

The penguins of the New Zealand area got all covered in oil. One of the penguins very favorite thing to do is preen and by doing this they would ingest a whole bunch of poisonous oil, so, not only do the sweaters keep them warm but they keep them from getting oil all over their insides.

Skeinz, a natural yarn store in New Zealand is sponsoring The Worldwide Campaign To Knit Sweaters For Penguins to help keep these little guys safe while getting cleaned up. And, you can help. Click on over to HERE to find out how!

Comments

  1. A friend contacted them and was told they don’t need anymore. They were inundated with donations and have too many.

  4. The oil spill is coming from a giant cargo ship called “Rena”. The pilots of the ship ended up steering her onto a known reef. The problem comes from the ship literally breaking into two pieces, right along where the oil is stored. While over 750 (whatevers) worth of oil has already been spilt, there is another 1,500 (whatevers) on board the ship. Thankfully no new oil has spilled in the last two days, and they’re trying their hardest to get the remaining oil off, but horrible seas etc – plus a ship on a 45o angle make the job understandably hard. They’re also not helped by the fact that the hose they’re using to pump out the oil is actually no larger than the ones at the car petrol pumps – about the size of your thumb and finger in a circle according to one reporter.
    Do help out – how cool is it to say you have knitted a penguin tuxedo!
    For pics of this disaster check out: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_cid=1&gallery_id=122111#8154898 (images from over the last week)
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_cid=1&gallery_id=122188#8166407 (the ship)
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_cid=1&gallery_id=122169#8163338 (The wildlife)

  5. Hi Terrye, I emailed the yarn store, Skeinz, that was sponsoring the penguin project, I received this reply on October 16, 2011
    Hi Gail,
    Thank you for your kind offer – at this stage the response has been overwhelming & we have enough pledges to cover the required number of birds needing jumpers – keep in touch with updates via our blog at http://theyarnkitchen.blogspot.com if we require more we will post here.
    Cheers Maree

Have you read?

Knit Little Fish to Use Your Yarn Scraps

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out. 

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs. 

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make. 

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color. 

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash. 

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail). 

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs. 

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]