Second Anniversary: Cotton

November 2015
Cotton, amethyst, sterling silver

For the occasion of my wife's and my second anniversary, I of course wanted to continue to make gifts for her using the traditional anniversary materials as I had the year before; year two is cotton. For our first anniversary I had decided to only use the material in question, but this year (and all years henceforth) I gave myself a pass and decided that as long as cotton was the main element, I could incorporate other materials as well.

I bought some lavender waxed cotton cord, and because the waxing made it partially stiff, I decided it would be perfect for decorative knotwork. I settled on a Chinese macramé pipa knot, so called because it resembles a 琵琶 (pípa), a teardrop-shaped traditional Chinese lute. I had a couple of amethyst cabochons that complemented the more muted color of the cord, which were great for making post studs from which to hang the knots as earrings.