The Name Game
For a while now, I have struggled with naming my patterns other than what they are - like herringbone toe up socks, or entrelac hat. Some designers come up with great names for patterns that knitters instantly recognize. Clapotis is one, Damson is another, Lady Eleanor, the list goes on.
I was thinking about using names from my family. First, all the surnames for as far back as I know. Well, three generations doesn't give me a lot of names to choose from. Some were cool though, and I might use them - Atkins, Fontaine, Coard. Then I started thinking about the names' origins. They were all the surnames of the fathers and husbands. Even my grandmother's (the original Knittin' for Britain) surname Atkins was her father's and grandfather's and great grandfather's surname. The maternal parents' names are lost.
I remember the feminist arguments from back when I was a teenager that women had no real identity - their names were all of male origin. This isn't a problem for me - I truly don't care how surnames are determined. It just never dawned on me. But the big thing is - why does it matter. My sons have their father's last name, my husband has his father's last name. What does it matter?
I met a young couple about 10 years ago, and they both decided that neither one of them wanted to take the other's last name, so they put the letters of their respective surnames and combined them to make a new surname. How romantic. But it sure will screw up the geneaologists in the next century. They won't have a clue where that name came from.
Funny how putting these thoughts into writing have helped me figure out what to do. Henceforth (I love that word), I shall use the middle names of the people whom I love to name my patterns. Watch for a McCready, an Evelyn, a Margaret and a Jackie in the near future. You never know, there may be a Fontaine or a Coard in there too.
I was thinking about using names from my family. First, all the surnames for as far back as I know. Well, three generations doesn't give me a lot of names to choose from. Some were cool though, and I might use them - Atkins, Fontaine, Coard. Then I started thinking about the names' origins. They were all the surnames of the fathers and husbands. Even my grandmother's (the original Knittin' for Britain) surname Atkins was her father's and grandfather's and great grandfather's surname. The maternal parents' names are lost.
I remember the feminist arguments from back when I was a teenager that women had no real identity - their names were all of male origin. This isn't a problem for me - I truly don't care how surnames are determined. It just never dawned on me. But the big thing is - why does it matter. My sons have their father's last name, my husband has his father's last name. What does it matter?
I met a young couple about 10 years ago, and they both decided that neither one of them wanted to take the other's last name, so they put the letters of their respective surnames and combined them to make a new surname. How romantic. But it sure will screw up the geneaologists in the next century. They won't have a clue where that name came from.
Funny how putting these thoughts into writing have helped me figure out what to do. Henceforth (I love that word), I shall use the middle names of the people whom I love to name my patterns. Watch for a McCready, an Evelyn, a Margaret and a Jackie in the near future. You never know, there may be a Fontaine or a Coard in there too.
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