Ring Number Eight in 20k Gold, Sterling Silver and Silk Thread

What an eventful week! Ring Number Eight is finished, even though I was very busy becoming a grandma again. My baby granddaughter was born, and gratefully she is healthy and beautiful. She is named Vivian, after me. In the Sephardic Jewish tradition, we name our kids after our parents, which means I was named after my grandmother Vida and my granddaughter was name after me. My daughter and son in law were not sure what middle name to give her, so I suggested they use Raquel, which is my other grandmother’s name. I am very excited to say they went along with it, so now my granddaughter is named after the two matriarchs in my family, who were opposites, each in a wonderful way.

My grandmother Vida was sweet, easy going, very giving and complacent, always wanted to make everyone happy, even if it meant she had to make a sacrifice. My grandmother Raquel was very warm, loving, and welcoming, yet strong in character and always focused on keeping the family together, and keeping each and every member of the family in line. Both of my grandmothers were very present, and influential in my life. The one thing they had in common was that they would always knit, making things for everyone in the family. They would take with them wherever they went a bag with the yarn and needles, and whenever they were sitting down they would start knitting, with a steady rhythm, without even looking down, and always making beautiful sweaters, blankets, scarves etc.

So to celebrate that I became a grandmother again of a very pretty girly girl, and honor my grandmothers, I decided to use knitting to make Ring Number Eight.

While my daughter was in labor and I was watching the baby’s heartbeat, I kept picturing how I was going to knit the ring. I considered few different options and tried a few different ideas, such as using silver wire, wrapping a few ring bands together, weaving wire and thread, until I came up with the solution of using pink silk thread to wrap it around a ring band. I made five 20k gold ring bands and a three in silver. One silver band was wrapped with the pink thread. The rings can be used all together, stacking them up.

You may ask, why did you make three silver rings and only wrapped one? The answer is that two more babies are on their way. My two other daughters are also pregnant; one is due very soon and already showing signs of labor. The other one is due in the summer. So I am saving the other two silver rings to wrap them as well when the babies arrive, continuing to honor my grandmothers and celebrating the beautiful gift of life.