the title

Ah, the pressure of coming up with a title.

Sad to say that I dscovered another blog on knitting today that is wonderful, graphically interesting, and also called "whimsy." I searched for a synonym for the word, but it's a circular loop: whimsy sugnifies something whimsical, and something whimsical is of the nature of whimsy.

Trying to name my blog gives me the same sensation as when I play Scrabble. Despite my years in academics and the fact that I've always been an English type versus a math type, it is as if a garage door comes down and closes off any Words from access to my active mind. Crossword puzzles have a similar effect, as does anything involving addition or subtraction in my head.

I may sound a bit batty, now. But it probably has something to do with thinking too hard, and cutting off any creative sources in the brain.

I did come across a wonderful title as I was reading Close to Home, by Peter Robinson. One of the police investigators recalls labeling a map in grade school with the words "fanciful sea creatures." A great phrase, but what in h### does it have to do with knitting or writing?

I'm resisting temptation to be cute, though I do love names that play, cleverly, with the word knit. (Knitche in Downers Grove is the best yarn shop in the western suburbs of Chicago, bar none.) And I'm also resisting the urge to play with the word yarn, as in story as well as fiber, though I love Yarn Harlot and a bunch of other variations on the theme.

The best approach probably is to let my mind chew away at this on its own terms. But patience is a big one for me.

So, send all those ideas my way: we're looking for a blog name that suggests happenstance, capriciousness, a love for language and handicrafts, and has a nice, poetic ring to it.

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