Make mine a double. Better yet, make it a half_double
I've gone and done it now. After weeks - nay, months! - of faffing about, I've changed my lj user name to half_double. Why did I go and do such a thing? Well, when I started this journal over 5 years ago, the name beths_stanley was chosen as something of a joke. Indeed, the whole journal was something of a joke. In the intervening years I've gotten considerably more serious about this wee corner of teh Intarwebs, and I wanted a name that better reflected who I am now.
Why half-double? Well, it's a crochet stitch. My favorite crochet stitch. Is having a favorite crochet stitch weird? I don't care. I also like the semi-mysteriousness of it: anyone who wanders across my journal at random and knows nothing about crochet might be intrigued by the name and wonder what it's all about.
Also - and here's where I prove how way too much I've been thinking about this - my first ever crochet project was a hat made almost entirely of half-doubles. I've come a long way since that hat. When I started, I was slow. I wouldn't deviate from a pattern by a single stitch; I wouldn't even look at a pattern marked harder than "Beginner." Now I whip through projects in pretty short order; I goof around with patterns and choose projects as high as...actually, I don't know. I probably could do some "Expert"-level patterns, but I find that what makes most patterns "Expert" is increased intricacy of pattern repetition, which I usually find frilly, fussy, and frankly uncalled-for.
I'd like to call this a metaphor for my life. I'd like to say that when I first learned to crochet, I was timid and slow and uncertain, and that now I'm bold and fast and confident. Alas, this is not true. I'm pretty much the same person now as I was then, but at least I know how to crochet pretty things while I'm at it.
In honor of my bold new direction, I've spiffed the place up a bit. Nothing fancy; just some new curtains, a couple of throw rugs, a bunch of big blue squares. You know. The usual.
And now it's off to see what lj looks like as a newly-minted half_double.