Yes, these penguins are wearing tiny, colorful sweaters.
They look nicer and better designed than some sweaters we've received as
gifts from well-meaning relatives. Wait — there's more. Australia's oldest
man knitted these little penguins sweaters with his 109-year-old hands. And, they're actually called little penguins. Officially.
Alfred "Alfie" Date already knew his way around a
pair of knitting needles when some nurses recruited him to knit sweaters for
little penguins. This penguin-clothing mission was created by Phillip Island's
Penguin Foundation in case the critters were caught in an oil spill; the
sweaters will protect their feathers. According to the foundation, little penguins only
live in southern Australia and New Zealand, and they have a divorce rate
somewhere between 18 and 50%. Those fancy jumpers make them hard to resist.
"The two girls [nurses] come in to me and say 'We
believe you can knit.'" Sure enough, he's been knitting for about 80 years,
and he just couldn't turn down the request. "The girls who used to work
for me, they'll tell you I'm a sucker. I can't say no," Date told
Australia's Nine News. He also still knits items for humans, of course.
The little penguins are totally stocked up on sweaters now,
according to the Penguin Foundation. However, if you're feeling restless and
want to donate your time and skill to worthwhile causes, there are a bunch of
charities that provide everything from hats to the homeless to security blankets for animals
in shelters. [Mashable]