The ring that Ellis is wearing in my last post was given to me by my Great Aunt Jean ... my mother's mother's sister, who never married. Jean lived with my mom's family, helping to care for my grandmother's three children and my grandparent's house in Rockville Centre on Long Island. When my own parents wanted to get away for a weekend, it was Aunt Jean who came to watch my brother and me. As with my grandmothers, I remember her wearing boxy belted housedresses and black tie shoes with chunky heels. It amuses me that the eyeglasses they all wore are now retro-trendy ... amuses me, but I doubt I'll ever wear them myself.
As you can see in the close-up, the stone is chipped and pitted. I've thought about having it polished, but I doubt anyone could guarantee that the stone would survive intact. So I keep it as is. It fits my right ring finger perfectly, and I'm giving serious thought to wearing it again.
I decided it would make a good memory patch for Remember 2026, so I hunted through my Deb Lacativa thread stash, finding these two silk/cotton bits ...
If you look carefully, you can see the purple flash that appears in the stone when it is turned in the light. I don't know that I ever heard what the stone was, but some quick Google searching leads me to believe it might be ametrine, which is a portmanteau of amethyst and citrine.
As ever, I loved seeing Deb's threads serve up one subtle color after another as I split backstitched a la Jude Hill ...
And I don't think I've mentioned this, but each patch is my usual 1.75" with the turned-under edges secured with yet another Jude Hill creation, the glue stitch. Really I don't know what I'd be doing if I hadn't encountered her incredible Spirit Cloth blog and classes back in 2014.
What a wonderful story.
ReplyDeleteThank you ... my Aunt Jean was a gentle soul who loved to knit ... to the point that she would appear to be falling asleep, but would continue to knit, seemingly on autopilot ... my favorite memory is a powder blue sweater she knitted for my little brother that had fuzzy white angora bunnies knitted into it
ReplyDeleteLiz~ Okay, so I can respond, but the regular comment box isn't showing (FYI). I love this story about your Aunt and her ring. It turned out beautifully. My grandma wore those plaid cotton house dresses with little white 100% (she insisted on that part) cotton socks. By the early 1980's it became stylish pantsuits w/ belted waists. The stories make me feel dreamy for a simpler time (prob only imagined as such by us living through now).
DeleteAnyway, I'd never even heard of that kind of stone before. It looks lovely and earthy. ~Nancy
Haha the regular comment box popped back up. Oy. Nancy
DeleteI will never understand how the blogs work … so I guess it makes sense that I can never understand why they don’t work either … it’s all so random
DeleteAnyway, my parents were both surprise third babies born to older moms … my grandparents were all in their 80s when I was a teenager and never made it
to the 1980s … I honestly can’t imagine any of them in pants or sneakers … neither of my grandmothers drove (although my Aunt Jean sure did) … and goodness, the wash hanging on the line was always a wonder … those “foundation garments” were epic!
That is just amazing. You turned thread to stone and metal.
ReplyDeleteLove this comment ...
Delete(((Liz))) love how your Deb threads match the colours of your ring purrfectly!
ReplyDeleteI daresay I have a fair number to choose from ... lucky me!
Deleteso here i am , so long ago and beîng glad you are well and made nice things like..?.. all the things !
ReplyDeletehave a find day
Maria - it is a fine day to find you here again ... I love seeing you on the other blogs, too
Deletefine day
ReplyDeleteL - so beautiful to talk the memory of one thing and create a new memory in another work - multiplying memories and also carrying them forward. B
ReplyDeleteI daresay I hope some of the stories told here will encourage my kids and grandkids to hold on to some of our things and carry the stories forward when we're no longer here
DeleteA lovey ring all the more precious due to the story of your Aunt. I have my Mom's little diamond engagement ring, the diamonds set flat into the band, one bigger stone surrounded by little ones. When I turned 50 for some reason I had the ring sized so I could wear it and wear it I did for two days; I am so not a diamond person but it is a sweet ring and my granddaughter tries it on every time she visits. It will be hers one day as Rich's wide gold band will be our grandsons. As I am not a diamond wearing woman, Rich is not a ring person and wore his wedding ring for about a month! Still that's ok cause this month we celebrated our 56th anniversary.
ReplyDeleteMarti
I love your