Please, No Penguin Jumpers or Tree Leaves

Penguin by Tom Watt
this is not the type of penguin
 that needs a jumper.
in fact no jumpers 
are needed right now.
please do not start knitting 
the bird a sweater.

Things on the internet seem to live forever and cycle through every now and then. We all have well-meaning friends and relatives sending us jokes and warnings that are like the cat in the song "The Cat Came Back". We see them again and again and again.

One famous example of this is the request for sweaters for penguins in New Zealand, which is the perfect combination of cute and and helping out. In 2000, a request was put out for jumpers to help penguins that had been covered in oil. These sweaters keep the birds warm and prevent them from ingesting the oil on their feathers. Certain sizes and patterns and materials for the sweaters were requested. Then a flood of penguin sweaters ensued.  People hoping to help spread the information far & wide. I can only imagine what was sent and would hazard a guess that a significant percentage of items were not the correct size or the correct materials or even penguin jumpers. The number of people saying "wait, stop, we don't need any more sweaters" couldn't keep up with the production of cute little penguin jumpers of all sorts. 

Of course every now and then the request resurfaces, sometimes when there is actual need, and sometimes when someone sees the old story, and the flow of cute little penguin sweaters begins again. 

This morning I made the following tweet. 

It isn't every day someone asks for knit leaves for a tree to promote peace. greenprophet.com/2013/02/knit-p…
— Batsheva Appel (@stick2myknittin) February 11, 2013

I try to read the things that I tweet, so I saw that the post was recent. What I didn't do was a little more investigation.

According to the post that I read:

TikkunTree Project, which began in 2007,  was inspired by the destruction of olive groves during the continued Israeli occupation and settlement of Palestinian territories. The organizers say that, until its eventual exhibition, the TikkunTree is intended to serve as a vehicle for conversation about peace as it travels to knitting circles and community groups, making intermittent public appearances as it grows.

But here's the problem. I can't find any mention of the TikkunTree being on tour or anything happening since 2009.

I was already conflicted about the project. Yes, I love fiber arts. Yes, I am for peace. But I wasn't certain how the project was going to advance peace or bring people together.  It was when I went to look into the TikkunTree Project further that I found out that nothing has really happened in a few years. 

And I regretted my tweet. And felt like I had asked for some penguin jumpers in different sizes, when there is really no current project looking for penguin jumpers. Please do not begin knitting sweaters for penguins. Please.