Names

I'm one of those somewhat annoying people who feels a need to name some of my belongings. Not everything, mind you, just certain things that I interact with happily and often. The Prius, for example, is Percy, my road bike is Scarlett, and my electric tea kettle is Jeeves. Oddly enough, some objects that I am quite fond of do not have names - my spinning wheel for instance has never seemed to require an appellation.

It seems natural to name living things. The cats, of course, have names and each has a few nicknames. The squirrels who have recently decided to populate the redwood trees around my house have been given sweet, affectionate names by my neighbor, but since they keep digging up my cilantro, instead I refer to them with a string of quaint expletives.

Children sometimes give their toys names. You may have noticed, in my studio shelf photo from a few days ago, that I have a pink, sparkly stuffed unicorn. Let me explain about that. It was a gift from my 14-year-old cousin, and I love it because she gave it to me and also because it is so completely NOT me. Sometimes it is good to be open to things you would never choose for yourself. And I think the pink sparkly unicorn deserves a name, but I haven't been able to come up with anything appropriate. I thought about "Twinkle," but I used to have a boyfriend who referred to a certain part of his anatomy . . . Ahem. Let's just say it's too close for comfort. Which brings up the interesting topic of what people name parts of their bodies. Any sociologists out there? That would make a riotous topic for a dissertation.

Just about every item I have knit has a name - all of the patterns have names so therefore the sweaters, scarves, gloves, hats, etc. have names as well. Sometimes the names don't stick, but I suspect the Scotland sweater will always be the Scotland sweater (and it has recently begun to have sleeves!).

Most of the felt hats I make have names, but that is more a marketing thing than a sign of attachment. The first hat I ever sold was a pink confection named, for marketing purposes, "Clara Bow." In my mind, I sarcastically called it "Barbie's Dream Hat," which is something I would prefer the current owner not know.

I am acquainted with several people who name their electronics, and I never really have before. The first iPod had no name. And I suspect its distress at being an anonymous servant to my questionable musical taste led to its tragic demise. I don't want to make the same mistake with the new iPod, and I would also like it to have a less problematic relationship with Schubert, so I have named it Franz. Franz appears to have a cheerful disposition, unlike its less cooperative predecessor. I think we will get along famously, as long Franz resists the siren call of the buckets of water, which shall remain nameless.

Addendum:

The pink sparkly unicorn conundrum has been nagging at me (no pun intended). Since I don't generally do cute, I decided to take it in the complete opposite direction and come up with the most butch name I could think of, excluding "Butch," which lacks imagination. The unicorn will hereafter be called "Spike." I may need to make it a black leather studded collar. And possibly replace the eyes with red glowing LED lights. Hmm.

Comments

[Rhonda the StitchingNut]

Very amusing ... all the naming stuff. It has made me wonder ... why don't I name ANYTHING I own? Not even my car. My Dad use to call one we had as a kid 'Ole Betsy' but I've never named a single car I've ever owned. Not even the car I have now that has been faithfully with me for 17 years now. Why is that? Not even the brand new Monte Carlo I WON in 1980 and owned for 10 years. Well the color was Claret and I could have used it for a name ... but no, never entered my mind.

As for knitting ... well the only one with a name that I say out loud [and is it's original name] is ... The Einstein. Yup, my Einstein coat.

And now I want to find a print of that picture of Einstein you have to put in my Knitting Stash Room. A reminder that "being silly is okay" ... and heaven knows I can be silly.

[Carrie K]

Spike is an excellent name for a pink unicorn. And I'm somewhat relieved to know you don't have a roomful of unicorns.

All my cars but this one have had names. Hmmm.

[Ginny Burton]

When I bought my one and only iPod and hooked it up to my MacBook, the computer asked me its name. I didn't realize that it meant something like "iPod" or "My iPod"--I took it literally and thought I had to give it a real name. It was silver colored and I'd been reading a lot of Sylvia Plath at the time, so I called the iPod Sylvia. It has not failed to confuse every Apple genius who has ever helped me with a problem.

My darling husband was nicknamed "Butch" by his family. It made me grind my teeth for years until a friend of his dad's said, "It could be worse; they could have called him Bubba." Always nice to have things put in perspective.

[Nikki]

Spike's a good name for the unicorn!

I name a lot of things... my computer is George (because I was so tickled when I picked him up from FedEx I told him I would love him and hug him and squeeze him and call him George... LOL) my first ipod was George Jr. Current iPod is nameless (and OK with it). Both of my spinning wheels have had names and my car has a name. But it isn't used lol I don't know why though...

[Maia]

You made me laugh out loud!

I saw the pink hat owner and she looked absolutely perfect in Clara Bow.