Knitty, Gritty & Smitty: I Met The New Flyers Mascot Today & Made It Weird
A few days ago Smitty let me know there’d be a special guest in the office & my brain got carried away as it started whirring 1,000 miles per minute. I was already fan-girling & thinking of all the fun stuff we could do & I’m guessing Smitty was quickly full of regrets for giving me the heads up. (Sorrey.)
Well the day finally arrived & I had big plans but then got held up doing podcasting stuff. By the time I was able to run out it was already almost 3pm, the time Gritty was supposed to arrive. In a panic, I sprinted almost half a mile to the craft store & back afraid I’d miss him & my chance for an extremely stupid joke.
Drenched in sweat with a bright red face to contrast his orange one, I came bursting out of the elevator panting with a bag containing two rolls of orange yarn, knitting needles, super glue & giant googly eyes. It wasn’t my original design plan, but time was short as I waited in the back of the line waiting for a photo with him, so I just squeezed piles of glue onto the yarn & stuck the googlies on it.
At one point I looked up to see Dave giving me a wide-eyed stare and I muttered, “It’s a uh, it’s a Knitty-Gritty.” You know when a kid shows you some garbage art project & you pretend to think it’s great to be polite? It was sort of like that. I still don’t think I’ve ever encountered him when I’m being normal.
When it was finally my turn my heart was racing. Of all the awesome athletes & celebrities who walk through this cluttered space, I was at peak excitement for this. ::Drumroll please:: Here’s the live action shot of me revealing my “Knitty-Gritty” and?! It was weird. Very uncomfortable.
I didn’t know mascots could collar pull but he was definitely creeped out & I can’t say I blame him. Nightmare Fuel Kate. But he came through & was a complete gentleman about the whole thing. And you know, everyone’s initial reaction to Gritty was disgust & confusion, but it turned into love. Pretty sure the same thing happened here.
