Off the coast of Tauranga, the oil spill from the Rena is having a disastrous effect on wildlife and the environment. A number of little blue penguins have already been caught in the oil and there are growing fears that more will be affected. Sabine of Curiouser & Curiouser and the team at Skeinz are rallying the crafty troops to help with the penguin rescue effort by knitting penguin jumpers, which help protect the birds and prevent them from preening their feathers and ingesting the toxic oil.

Clockwise from top left: rescued penguin photographed by Grayson Ottaway (courtesy of NewstalkZB); penguin jumper knitted and photographed by Skeinz customer Charlie; oil from the Rena washes ashore on Papamoa Beach, photographed by Keith Stoneham (courtesy of NewstalkZB).

The pattern takes about an hour to make and you can send your finished jumper to the lovely ladies at Skeinz in Napier, who will make sure it reaches a little blue penguin in need.

*** UPDATE ***

Skeinz had an overwhelming response to this project and have enough jumpers on the needles to meet the initial demand. They’ve asked that if you’ve already got a jumper started, complete it and send it in but to otherwise, check the Skeinz blog for updates as they find out more.