What about different names for the same stitch? I have seen Brick stitch referred to as Cheyenne Stitch, and Apache stitch. Why some stitches have different names, I don’t know. Perhaps someone along the way wanted to make it sound like they discovered something new, or just didn’t like the original name.
A stitch name that really kind of bugs me is “two-drop-peyote” (also known as gourd stitch, although “regular” peyote has also been called this). To most people, this means two beads per stitch while stitching peyote (as “three-drop will be 3 beads per stitch). I once took a class on making a ceremonial beaded feather fans from a Native American. “Two-Drop-Peyote” was used for creating this project. The “Two-Drop-Peyote” had nothing to do with using two beads per stitch. It was a form of peyote usually used almost exclusively for ceremonial items. At the end of a row, you would drop down to the next row by going thru 2 beads instead of one (hence the two-drop). It is a different form of peyote with its own way of starting out and its unique characteristics. Yet few people do it, let alone know about it. For directions on this stitch, see Whispering Wind’s Crafts: American Indian Past and Present ©1990
I used to protest the common usage of the name “Two-Drop-Peyote” by saying “NO that is NOT “Two-Drop-Peyote”, but a DOUBLE bead peyote. No one understood what I was talking about. So I gave up. As long as everyone knows what is being talked about, I guess it really doesn’t matter, right? Or does it?
What do you think about names of patterns, or pieces? Names do matter more than you think. Names do evoke a certain personality or mood. If a pattern is called “Earthtone Brick Stitch Necklace”, or called Moroccan Moonlit Desert, which sounds more appealing? Does one name create a mood, or how about inspiration as to how you might approach creating something with the pattern? Perhaps “Moroccan Moonlit Desert” will inspire you to use charms and beads with a Arabian feel. How would “Earth Tone Brick Stitch Necklace” inspire you?
When I create my kits, I will agonize about what to call the darn things. I have a tree frog kit I call “Peepers”. I could have just called it “Tree Frog”. I could have called “Rusty the Reindeer” just “Reindeer”. I thought by naming them as I did, would lend to their “personality”. If I had named one of my pieces “Mermaid in Sardine Can” it would have not been fitting of the mood of the piece. So I named it “Something’s Fishy”. Or if I named my earrings simply “Owls” it would not have the same effect as “Nice Pair of Hooters”.
While I might not always come up with clever names for my pieces or designs, for the most part I do try to put some thought into the names. I hope that the names lend it the extra “personality” that makes it just a tad more appealing to my customers.
Even celebrities find names important. Never mind the weird names some of them give their kids. Many change their real names for screen names. Could you imagine a Jennifer Anastassakis instead of Jennifer Aniston? Just consider how many celebrities you only need to say the first name, and everyone knows
who you are talking about. There is Cher, Madonna, Seal, and Oprah. Hey!!! Don’t I fit in with this group? When someone says “Sig” in our bead world, whom else but me would they be talking about? Wouldn’t you know it’s me? They say, if you are known by first name only, you have “arrived”. Trouble is, I am not sure where it is that I have arrived!
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