I have to take a moment here to tell the coolest crochet story that I will ever get to tell. Now that Halloween is over, as is the custom in the United States, society has completely skipped over the next holiday, Thanksgiving, and gone into full on Christmas mode. I am a holiday purest and refuse to begin the Christmas season until the day after Thanksgiving. Last year I made an exception. It was the 40th anniversary of the movie, “A Christmas Story”. I don’t know how to explain my love for that movie. I don’t remember ever seeing it for the first time. It simply has always been a movie that I love. I know it by heart, watch the 24-hour marathons every Christmas Eve, I even took a tour of the actual house from the movie given that my family lives in Cleveland and that’s where it’s located.
The 40th Anniversary
Last year I randomly came across an ad on Facebook for an event in Cleveland that would be a sort of comic-con for the movie. It was called “Ralphie Comes Home” and it was advertised as the largest reunion of the original cast since the movie was made. I did not hesitate to purchase tickets for myself and my two sisters. There was no question about it. Peter Billingsley was going to be there and so I simply had to go. I was going to meet Ralphie! I paid extra for the professional photo-op and meet-up. It said very clearly that he did not offer selfies at his table like the other cast members were going to do. So I had to have a picture with him. All plans were made and things were set. There was only one thing left to do.
The Bunny Suit
I am a knitter and crocheter. My favorite part of making things out of yarn is making things for other people. The best part is when they aren’t expecting anything—when I knit a Queen Elizabeth II doll for my old boss after the queen died, I actually got a hug from her! So when plans were set for me to go to this anniversary event, I immediately wanted to make something to give Peter Billingsley, aka Ralphie. It didn’t take me long to decide to make a doll version of him wearing the pink bunny suit. When I toured the movie house and museum, I found out that the real bunny suit is not on display because that was something Peter kept. Somehow it seemed appropriate to make a crocheted replica for him.
It was so fun making it! Just the fact that I knew I was making it for the real “Ralphie” was exciting! And look how good it turned out!
Meeting Your Hero
I was nervous about meeting “Ralphie” because of that quote that says you should never meet your heroes. Not that he’s a hero to me, but I didn’t want to find out he’s really a jerk in real-life and thus ruining a movie that is very much a piece of my happy childhood Christmas memories. During the actual event, I met several other cast members. I met Zach Ward (aka “Scut Farkus”—yes, it’s Scut, not Scott), Ian Petrella (aka “Randy”), and R. D. Robb (aka “Schwartz—the “I triple dog dare ya” kid). But meeting Peter Billingsley was the absolute highlight.
I wasn’t expecting much because the website clearly said he didn’t take selfies and I did not pay extra for him to personalize the autographed picture. It was my turn to meet him at his table after I met him briefly in the area where the professional pictures were taken. Many people had already met him earlier in the day and so his line wasn’t long and there weren’t many people behind me. My sister had been my paparazzi all day and had my phone ready to take pictures of the big moment. I’ll never forget walking up to him and explaining the gift I brought him. I’m proud of the fact that I was able to explain it coherently and not in a stuttering kind of fan-girl way, although that’s how I felt on the inside.
When I pulled the crocheted version of him out of the bag, he was in awe. I seem to remember him asking if I had really made it. When I said that I had, he stood up and showed it to the other people in line and said that I had made it. That led to many of them saying they’d be happy to pay me to make them one. After that, I obviously chose the bunny suit picture for him to sign. Despite not paying extra, he personalized it for me! It was an autographed thank you note! And even though the website said he didn’t do selfies, he saw my sister off to the side taking pictures and without me asking, he stood up and posed for a picture. It was amazing!
I walked away from that experience with my heart racing and my hands shaking a little bit from the nervousness. We left soon after because nothing could top that. I watched the movie at her house that evening even though it was only the beginning of November. Christmas had come early that year.
FYI: I did not design the pattern for this doll. I bought the pattern from https://www.etsy.com/shop/HoorayItsCrochet. I don’t think the exact pattern I used is for sale anymore. But it looks like there is an updated version for sale.
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