I love penguins. They are the coolest and best dressed birds ever. Though they are birds, penguins have flippers instead of wings. They cannot fly and on land they waddle walking upright (I kind of feel related :)—though when snow conditions are right they will slide on their bellies. In the water they are expert swimmers and divers, and some species can reach speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. The penguin’s distinctive coloring—black body with white belly—helps camouflage the bird in the water as it searches for meals of small shrimp, fish, crabs and squid.

So I am very proud to present my new toy knitting pattern today. Meet Patty the Penguin and her family! (get the pattern here)

This is a quick knit and since penguins live in big family clusters you’ll probably want to make more of them. Aren’t they adorable?? I just snapped a quick shot before they vanished under their sombrero again. I guess it’s getting too hot for them on my balcony…

Techniques used are:

• knit in the round and in rows
• simple increases and decreases
• kitchener stitch/grafting

What you need:

• approx. 10grams (30-40yards) cotton yarn or similar in the body colour (for example white or gray)
• 8-10grams (20-30yards) in the coat colour (black or dark gray)
• smaller leftovers of the same quality in yellow for feet and beak
• small leftovers in black for the eyes
• 5 double pointed needles (2,5 – 3,5mst)
• Fiberfill
• Tapestry needle

I designed this toy and was thinking that I don’t want to be forced to explain to my son later why all those cute and fluffy animals (and those that aren’t!) are extinct. And why I didn’t do anything to protect them. So I wanted to focus your attention on endangered species. Like the endangered Galápagos Penguin, which with a size of only 19 inches is cute and cuddly and there are less than 2000 penguins left in the world. It is the only penguin species found north of the equator and in the Galápagos, six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador, which is famous for a wealth of unique plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. The Galápagos Islands were the source of Darwin’s theory of evolution and remain a priceless living laboratory for scientists today.

I will donate 100% of the money from this pattern sale directly to the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation). Check out their work and see which other endangered animals need our help. So who said knitting doesn’t make a change?? You’ll make one!

There are many small ways to help protect this one and only world we live in. Reduce waste, reuse things, recycle as much as you can, shop locally to reduce greenhouse gases, knit with eco-friendly materials, pick up litter when you see it, teach your kids how to act responsibly and that this world, our planet, depends on all the animals, be it cute and cuddly, or ugly and slimy. They are all part of our one ecosystem. I care. I hope you do, too.