So, what is the story behind the team of penguins?
It all started in summer five years ago when I subscribed
to a knitting magazine that was advertising for knitters to make miniature hats
for Innocent Smoothie bottles to raise funds for the Age UK Big Knit
campaign. For each Innocent Smoothie
sold with a hat on, Innocent Smoothie would donate 25p to Age UK. I had loads of yarn already and there were many
designs freely available, most of which would not take too long to make, so I
decided this could be my lunch time activity at work.
As you might imagine, knitting in the office environment
caused some curious looks. Some people
were brave and came to ask what I was doing.
When I explained and showed them the collection of patterns that were available,
I was asked if they could buy directly from me rather than having to wait until
the hats were available on the bottles in November. Other people asked if I could make them
specific designs. I agreed and set a
price of £1 for a hat from stock and £2 for a custom order with all the funds
going to Age UK. Initially it was only those
sitting in the same department that ordered and bought them but, as people saw
them atop bottles on desks, word got out and I received more and more requests
plus one variation on this – could I make it so that the chosen design would
sit on the desk, not atop a bottle, more like an ornament? I considered for a moment and said I thought
it would be possible but to let me try first.
You see, the patterns were all for fitting the top of a Smoothie
bottle. To make any of the designs a
desktop ornament meant I needed to design a base for them.
I knitted up the design that had been requested – I cannot
recall what it was now but it may well have been a penguin – and then sat and
pondered how to effect a base. I needed
a circle. I could not recall having
knitted one before so looked through patterns I had until I found the inspiration
I needed. It was a pattern for some tiny
flowers, knitted in a straight line that when sewn up became a circle. That gave me the guiding principle of how it
was done, next was to work out the exact pattern to provide the correct size of
base. It took a few attempts but I
finally worked it out. I stuffed the hat
with toy stuffing and sewed the base to it.
After a little manipulation to make sure that the stuffing was
distributed correctly and that the hat stood up unaided, success was declared!
The recipient of the stuffed hat was exceedingly happy and showed
friends and colleagues. The upshot? An increase in the number of requests for
stuffed hats until there were more of those than standard hats. The penguins and snowmen were very popular
because their hats and scarves afforded the opportunity to customise them to
suit the recipient. In general the
orders were for one or two at a time until the day I was stopped by one of the
building security guards. He asked me if
there was any limit on the number that could be ordered. He asked if there was any restriction on
colour. When I confirmed he could have
as many as he wanted of whatever colour so long as I could obtain it, he
explained that his son was a Tottenham Hotspur fan and that he would like 11
penguins in Spurs colours to give to his son as a special gift.
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