301 Critter Names (in my own weird vein)

Special thanks to Gwen, James, and Deb, without whom this list would have either petered out around the 150 mark, or taken three times as long to complete.

Abel
Abigail
Albert
Alberta
Alexandra
Algernon
Alice
Aloysius
Alton
Alva
Alvin
Angela
Angelica
Angelina
Angie
Archie
Arliss
Armand
Artemis
Arthur
August
Austin
Babette
Bartholemew
Benjamin
Bernard
Bernice
Bertha
Bertrand
Beryl
Beth
Betsy
Bette
Betty
Beulah
Bianca
Blaine
Blanche
Bridget
Burl
Buster
Byrna
Carey
Carl
Carla
Carol
Cecilia
Charlene
Charvella
Clair
Claudette
Claudia
Claudius
Clayton
Clementine
Cletus
Clifford
Clifton
Cloyse
Clyde
Colleen
Conway
Cora
Coreen
Cornelius
Corrina
Courteney
Dagmar
Darla
Darlene
Dean
Deanna
Delilah
Delmar
Delores
Desiree
Desmond
Domenic
Donald
Donna
Donovan
Doreen
Doris
Dorothy
Dot
Dwight
Earl
Edgar
Eleanor
Elias
Elizabeth
Ellen
Elmo
Elmore
Eloise
Elton
Elwood
Emile
Emma
Emmeline
Emmett
Emory
Englebert
Ernest
Ernestine
Ernie
Esmerelda
Esther
Ethel
Eudora
Eugene
Eunice
Eustace
Evan
Eve
Evelyn
Ezekiel
Fawn
Felicia
Floyd
Franklin
Garfunkel
Gene
Geoffrey
Gertrude
Gidget
Gladys
Glenda
Gloria
Greta
Gretchen
Grover
Gwladys
Gwyneth
Hans
Harris
Harrison
Hattie
Hayes
Heidi
Henrietta
Henry
Herbert
Hollis
Horace
Howard
Hubert
Hudson
Humphrey
Inez
Ingmar
Ingrid
Irene
Iris
Irving
Isabella
Janet
Jasper
Jedediah
Jefferson
Jehosaphat
Jenette
Jeremiah
Joan
Joanne
Jocelyn
Kelton
Larry
Laura
Lawrence
Lena
Lenore
Leona
Leonard
Lester
Lisa
Liza
Lloyd
Lois
Louis
Louise
Lu
Lucille
Lucinda
Lucius
Mabel
Madeleine
Malachi
Margaret
Marla
Martha
Matilda
Max
Maximilian
Maxine
Mel
Melba
Melvin
Merle
Mervin
Meryl
Mildred
Milo
Minnie
Moselle
Myra
Myrna
Myrtle
Nanette
Natasha
Nathaniel
Necie
Nora
Norbert
Noreen
Norma
Odell
Olive
Olivia
Orlando
Orville
Oscar
Oswald
Otis
Patton
Paula
Paulette
Pauline
Pauline
Pearl
Peggy
Penelope
Percy
Petunia
Philip
Phyllis
Quincy
Randall
Rascal
Raymond
Rhonda
Roger
Roland
Rose
Ruby
Rudolph
Rufus
Rupert
Russell
Ruth
Samson
Samuel
Sebastian
Shel
Sheldon
Sheman
Sideney
Simon
Sophia
Stacy
Stanley
Susan
Suzette
Tammy
Terrence
Thelma
Theodore
Timothy
travis
Trenton
Truman
Tyson
Ulysses
Varla
Velma
Vera
Vernon
Victor
Vincent
Virgil
Walt
Walter
Walton
Wardell
Watson
Wayne
Wilbur
Wilford
Wilhelmina
Wilmarth
Winchester
Winifred
Winston
Woodrow
Yancey
Yosef
Zane
Zebediah
Zeke
Zelda
Zoe

Oscar, Eater of Brownies

This is Oscar. He's just such a sweetheart....

This little guy was a labor of...fury, as I recall. And rage. Lots, lots, lots of rage. His original face and shape were so disheartening that if I had had enough of the base material, the yellow fleece, I would have taken the head and arms and scrapped the body.

This not being the case, however, I instead opted to perform major plastic surgery, adding a smile, adjusting the drape of the arms, re-distributing stuffing, and taking in his saddlebag hips.

I'm very happy with the results here, although I wish I had done something a little different with the quilting on his tummy. This is the only recent one that my sister-in-law has liked, though, and my mother went crazy over him.

...

He's fast becoming one of my favorites.

Next time,

(or the time after)

We'll go through the backlog and show you the story so far. It's kind of interesting.

In the meantime, here's some more pics of Oscar:








Namaste.

Welcome, Wilkommen, and all that jazz.

I don't know how the Critters got inside my head and clicked. Come to think of it, a few days ago I tried to figure out, suss out, pin down, haha, the precise moment when sewing crawled in and made itself at home in my brain, but such moments are never easy to find.

This is what's clear: these are all I can think about these days. I just think of them as the Lares and Penates, the Small Gods, the gods of the hearth and home, the ones responsible for making the bread rise and the water boil. The gods that orchestrated the thousand little daily miracles that science has so neatly compartmentalized for us. Gods that have survived, however imporobably, into the present day: brownies, sprites, spirits, fairies, leprechauns, and the domovoi of eastern Europe. They are absurd, they are impractical, the are occasionally downright frightening.

I just can't get enough.

Maybe this is how obsessions start -- that quiet fascination with a singular topic that slowly erodes our resistance and creeps into every aspect of our creative lives.

Maybe this is how careers start.

Whatever you're going to call them -- lares, penates, or domovoi -- this is our space.

A note about the names:

I don't know exactly where the names come from. Somewhere inside our heads, there is a tiny engine cranking out the sort of names that were old-fashioned forty years ago. Names that went out of style somewhere in the indeterminate past, like the colors Harvest Gold, Avocado, and any shade of Olive Green. Names crafted out of shag carpet and dark wood paneling, spun from the hose of a thousand housewives, tinged with poverty and religious intent, beaded like a flapper's dress. Eugene, Donovan, Virgil, Gus, Cosmo, Bubba, Darryl, Gulliver, Harvey, Oswald, Gilbert, Chester, Harold, Rodney.

(and all of them sensible, everyday names)

This is what I do.

When I make a creature, I know what its name is the moment I turn its head inside out. Usually.

PS: I'm not sure why there are no girls yet. Not a Margaret, a Mildred, Louise, Ingrid, Irene, Iris, Abigail, Betsy, Catherine, and many other such. There just aren't yet. The females of the species are evidently much shyer than their male counterparts...

This is the Mad Milliner,

Signing out,

Namaste.