February 13, 2015
@TakePart/Twitter
Australia's oldest person knits tiny jumpers for little penguins.
Caution: Adorableness ahead.
First koala mittens, now penguin sweaters?
When Phillip Island's Penguin Foundation put a call out last year for knitted jumpers for little penguins to wear in the event of an oil spill, the response was overwhelming.
Among those who volunteered their knitting abilities was Australia's oldest man, Alfred 'Alfie' Date.
Alfred Date knits one of his sweaters. (@AnnaliseAK/Twitter)
Date, 108 at the time, was asked to put his knitting skills to use shortly after arriving at his new home in an aged-care village on the NSW Central Coast in Australia.
"I think I'd been in here about 12 hours, might have been 13," Alfred, now 109, told 9Stories from a chair in his humble room near Umina Beach.
"The two girls (nurses) come in to me and say 'We believe you can knit.'"
Date has been knitting for 80 years.
The penguin knitwear is used in the event of an oil spill, as the grease is toxic for the birds and mats their outer feathers, allowing water to seep through to the finer layer of down.
A penguin sports its new knitted jumper. (@dacaldar /Twitter)
The foundation does not need any more penguin sweaters at this time.
