Nomenclature and the Vagaries Thereof
I can never quite decide if this sort of thing is helpful, or dreadfully immodest. The most recent episodes of two charming podcasts had some nice things to say about the book. The first is The Knit Girllls (at about 20 minutes in) and the second is Stash and Burn (at about 34 minutes in). I’m thinking at this point I should stop mentioning such things. I have a suspicion that if you’re here and reading, you’ve likely realized the book is there and have already decided if you’d like to have it. I must confess though that I will totally continue to listen to them and to grin like a fool when other people like it.
Perhaps more importantly, I’m realizing that I should have come up with some sort of pronunciation guide for the socks. It’s one of the things I thought about when I was working on it. I know some of the names are hard to spell or say. I could have given them more accessible names, but I really wanted to stay with the theme and name the socks for the rugs that inspired them. I’m thinking the best option at this point is to add in a pronunciation guide to the various ravelry pages. Though I must confess I’m hopeless at turning those mysterious symbols into actual sounds, so it may take me a bit to get it sorted out.
This issue, in a slightly different form, is actually something I’m wrestling with for the next book. The patterns all have a historical (shall we say scientific?) inspiration. The subject matter gives me lots of material to work with, but it does run into some naming issues. What do you guys think, would you rather have nice easy to say, easy to spell names, or do you prefer things a bit more on the eclectic side?
I like your eclectic names. But then, I am a geek.
It wouldn’t be a “Hunter” pattern if we didn’t learn a new word! I find your pattern names to be very enriching!
I vote for eclectic names — they sound wonderful, mean something specific, and may cause people to be curious, ask questions, even (dare I say it??!!) learn something. A few years ago I made a series of quilts on the theme “Detritus” — that word alone needed translation more often than I’d have imagines. Each quilt was named for things I found on the beach I walk most days with my dogs — particular shells, seaweeds, etcetera. Each one got the precise Latin name which is its proper nomenclature. Many questions ensued, accompanied by bemused smiles.
Definitely eclectic! You could always provide a phonetic pronunciation guide in the back of the book for those unwilling to haul out the dictionary.
I am also a geek (former science teacher!) who would love some scientific names for sock patterns. My two worlds collide!
I vote eclectic. That’s your trademark. You have to teach us something when we decide to knit one of your patterns.
I couldn’t agree more! I can usually identify your work in any table of contents simply by the pattern names.
They are. …..Eclectic, individualistic, intellectual, advantageous, clever, identifiable, unique……
I agree with everyone else! Your patterns and their names are unique and it wouldn’t seem right to have names that weren’t interesting and educational and eclectic.
Eclectic — all the way
Eclectic for sure!
Your socks are unique so they should have unique names. 🙂
Eclectic for sure. Your names are as awesome as your patterns and beautiful.
You need to ask? Naturally, I’m firmly in the eclectic camp. I can’t imagine a pattern from you with a boring, average name.