One of my most beloved and valuable souvenir objects from my ancestors and my country is my mother´s “ruana”. This is one kind of coat used in the highest lands of Colombia, the “páramos”. My mom wasn't from the páramos, but my father was, and this ruana is a gift that my grandma made and gave to my mom. She made ruanas for  my father and for me too, but these were destroyed over the years. I just have my mother´s one and brought it with me to NY from my Country.
This coat is made of sheep wool and has a large process until it becomes a yarn and women knit the ruanas in “telares” which is a wood frame to hand knit. Almost all the women in my grandmother's time in those lands knew how to weave “ruanas” and made them for their families.
My mother´s  ruana is very important for me and for my nephews, because we remember the time when we were children and went on vacation to the family country house and my mom, their grandma, wore this coat, because it was very cold. I also remember my grandma and the love with which she gave us these coats. Furthermore, for me it is a symbol of the union of my memories about my parents' families.
It's very important to say that these ruanas today are mostly made by machines, not manually, because all this manufacturing was industrialized, so having this coat handmade at this time is a treasure.
This is the story of my mother´s “ruana”. 

– G

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant