Penguin Sweaters

When I heard about the oil tanker breaking up off the coast of New Zealand, I wondered if there would be a call to knitters to help. Unfortunately, there was. Skeinz Yarn Shop in New Zealand asked knitters to knit Penguin jumpers for a colony of Blue Penguins that were affected by the oil spill. Ravelry had a lively discussion going. (Yes, how is the elastic added?) I saw penguins wearing their sweaters on my local TV news. Snopes.com has a page declaring that the call for penguin sweaters is NOT a hoax. So while I was trying to figure out the meaning of 8 ply yarn, old needle sizes, and which conversions to trust, the rest of the knitting world came to the aid of penguins. In what felt like a mere matter of days, knitters rallied, and now there are more than enough Penguin Jumpers for all the affected birds. I am so pleased. However, I still intend to knit these little sweaters for the next time. Sad to say, I think there will be more oil spills.