If your knitting needles are itchy and you feel like helping out some of the most vulnerable of the New Zealand oil spill victims, perhaps consider whipping up a few tiny sweaters for penguins?

A yarn store in New Zealand has put out a call for penguin sweaters, and while that sounds like something that'd be more at home on CuteOverload, it's a sincere request; the sweaters help keep spill-affected birds warm until they can be cleaned, and also keeps them from plucking out their own oil-soaked feathers. Penguins rely on those feathers to stay warm as they swim and hunt through cold water, and if their feathers go, they can die.

This isn't the first time that crafty Samaritans have been asked to come to the aid of penguins caught in oil spills. In 2002 and 2007, the Tasmania Conservation Trust had similar penguin sweater drives to stockpile the snug little lifesaving pullovers.

And though the need for these garments is clearly tragic in nature, it's a hard heart that isn't warmed by the pictures below.