Crochet Your Own Tux

For anybody who isn't aware, "Tux" the penguin is the mascot of the Linux kernel. The origin story for Tux is that the creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, started telling a story about how he got nibbled by a little penguin while visiting an Australian zoo in 1993. The story inspired some drawings, and eventually Larry Ewing used the first public release of GIMP to create what we now recognize as Tux. Wikipedia has a nice write-up on the story, if you're interested.

Like his peers Mickey Mouse, Tom Cat, Bart Simpson, and many others, Tux has changed in appearance a bit over the years. He's appeared in pictures, in comics, videos as the mascot for different Linux flavors, toys and collectables, and even as part of a cutlery set.

Well, he also appears with me at Linux related events, thanks to my very crafty wife. You see, I have many skills, but crochet is not one of them. That's a choice - I've never sat down to try it. Maybe one day I will. Maybe I'll take to it like a penguin to ice, or maybe I'll hate it with the rage of a thousand angry gamers when their favorite game suddenly stops working on Linux because the publisher decided that they needed anti-cheat code that doesn't work on Linux.

But as I said, Tux comes to my Linux events. In fact, a whole family of Tuxs do!

If you're so inclined, or you know someone who is, my wife has been kind enough to let me publish her pattern for making what she calls "Tux Junior," as a page on our site here. I encourage you to give it a read and give it a go. You'll be surprised just how soon you have a whole family of Tuxs running around!