Join the worldwide effort to knit sweaters for adorable tiny penguins

penguin sweater — Dawwwwww. via The Penguin Foundation

Ahoy all you nifty, thrifty knitters out there; donating fashionable sweaters for penguins in Australia is currently in session! If you like to knit for your own personal pets though, you’re in luck too, because you can also adopt the very penguin you knit a sweater for. And let’s be honest, what’s cooler than a pet penguin rockin’ your swag?

All you need is a few spare hours, some yarn, and a heart to dive into some cute, tiny sweater patterns for endangered penguins in Australia; the Penguin Foundation is asking for knitted penguin jumpers to help in their rehabilitation efforts.

According to the Penguin Foundation, knitted sweaters will do a lot of mending for all the harm done to these cute animals. A patch of oil the size of a thumb nail can kill a little penguin, and oiled penguins often die from exposure and starvation. Oil separates and mats feathers, allowing water to get in which makes a penguin cold, heavy and less able to successfully hunt for food. So your sweaters will allow them to keep warm during during the winter when they spend more time at sea chasing fish. The sweaters also prevent the penguins from cleaning themselves with their beaks and ingesting the chemicals on their body.

If you want to get involved and knit a penguin back its love song, you can find patterns and mailing directions on the Penguin Foundation’s website.

[h/t ABC Melbourne]