More than just a crochet hook

It's a riddling rack! Riddling is a part of the process of making champagne. The bottles are put into a riddling rack, and whatever sediment is in the bottles comes to the cork end of the bottle. Every day or so, someone comes along and gives each bottle a shake and a twist. Finally, the cork end is frozen, the sediment is taken off the frozen end, the cork reinserted, and on with the rest of the process.

I just thought it was a pretty cool way to store wine bottles in a house that has precious little floor space left.

The wood on the face of it - the parts with the holes - are made from what used to be a door frame. I found that on eBay. The side panel is from wood that used to be a fence and was going to be burned. My buddy Rudy saved it from the fiery fate and gave me a piece of it. It is ALL oak, which matches everything else in our house.

It hangs on the wall next to the kitchen door - handy for dinner, yet out of the way. The good people at True Value Hardware are my go-to peeps for all things hardware-ish. They helped me figure out a way to attach it to the wall. So far it has @ 15 bottles, and it is holding up nicely.

And I don't even drink wine! That's Chris' territory.

Aunt Joy

Please click on any photo to see it enlarged.

This is my Aunt Joy and her doggie Ana. Joy is my mother's sister, and had a large part in getting me started in the world. When my dad died, she came to the funeral, and at that time invited Chris and me to come visit in Sugarland, Texas. We decided, on sort of short notice, to take her up on her offer. I worked furiously, but was unable to finish a blanket for her before we left. I brought it with me in the hopes that I might finish it while on vacation. Pack the hook, the yarn, find some kindergarten type blunt nose scissors, the label, needle and thread. Good idea, but I forgot one essential item. The pattern.

Dward was taking care of our kitties back at the house, so I asked him to send me the file in an email. The two days I could have been crocheting non stop were the two days I spent waiting for that file. After it arrived, there was too much else going on, what with seeing the sights in and around Sugarland and Houston, so the blanket got finished after we got home again.

Here's the clip art I used as a template for the dove, along with the finished product. Finding just the right font, size and position for the name was something Chris and I spent a fair amount of time working out.