Keyed Up

11Jan11

(Subtitle:  I am bad at Sundays.)

There is this giant key has been in my family for…well, I actually don’t know how long, or where the hell it came from.  I just remember being very small, and seeing it sitting in the middle of my Gran’s coffee table.  I wanted very badly to play with it, but it was too heavy for me to lift.  No joke, it’s like ten pounds.

Fast forward to now, and it is sitting, lonely and forgotten, in the room where we store all our random shit (heretofore referred to as The Rumpus Room).  I don’t even know how it came into my possession.  But it’s there.  And I feel like it deserves so much more respect than it is currently receiving.

Forest tried to give it to Goodwill once, and I pitched a fit at him.

Anyway.  I woke up today (pretend that it’s still Sunday when I finally get around to posting this), and I said to myself — Self, you are going to hang that key today.

So I went to Home Depot.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this on here, but I love going to hardware stores.  I love the smell, I love looking at all the home remodleing stuff, and I love picking out tools and materials for a new project.  And I love how there is always a big, burly man nearby to help little ol’ me find what I need.

I brought my friend Nick with me, who is a very enthusiastic DIYer, and had to get some stuff anyway.  We spent way too long looking at wall hooks, with me agonizing what would look best with the color paint we had, while at the same time complementing the key.  Then we wandered over to the lumber section, and I started looking at wood to build that key rack from my last entry.

Let me be honest with y’all.  I didn’t actually think I would build that thing.  I figured that, like many of my projects, I might buy the materials.  I might saw and hammer some stuff.  But ultimately, I knew it would end up in a heap in my closet until I got sick of looking at it.  But I was feeling optimistic.

So bought the wood.  I bought little brass hooks, wood stain, and a miter box with a saw.  We even detoured to Michael’s to get little labels for the keys (the label holders I really wanted were $6 apiece, so I forwent those.  Fuck you, Michael’s).

I got home, and went into Home Improvement Mode.  My friend Steve came over with his drill, and we hung a mirror I got for Christmas, and this 15-frame picture thing that’s been sitting in my closet for ages.  We put up Jean’s Ikea shelf in the Rumpus Room.  I got started on my key rack, sawing and hammering and wood-gluing away (used more wood glue than nails, I will admit, and Steve helped with this process quite a lot.  Thanks Steve!).

And then, between waiting for glue to dry, I even started a new scarf.

As a side note, I am very excited about this scarf.  Not only is it my first attempt at cabling (Big Cable Scarf from Men’s Knits), but the yarn is soooo pretty and soft.

Also, really expensive.

Honestly, I might as well just buy a scarf.

But that is not the point.

Anyway.

This is how far I’ve gotten with this key rack.  Still have to make it look antique-y, and need Steve to bring over some clamps to properly glue the frame in place.  Then I’ll be able to put on the labels and the hooks, and we’ll be golden.

Oh, also, at some point during all this, I did finally get that key hung.

Finally, some long-due respect.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  1 Comment
Tags: crafts, home improvement, knitting, woodworking