Cross Pendant - Full Persian with Mobius Bail

I am SO proud of this project!!! I purchased this as a kit from Unkamen Gifts and it has been sitting on my desk, waiting for me to be brave enough to tackle it. Well, Sunday was the day! The instructions were a series of pictures on Flickr with text, so it required sitting at my computer instead of at the kitchen table or in the family room. (A laptop and wireless router are on my wish list!)

Starting the Full Persian weave is very complicated. I think I got it more by accident than from actually understanding the directions. Once the pattern was established it got marginally easier. However, my poor old eyes, never very good, just plain couldn't focus, so I dragged out my magnified light (stuffed in a far corner collecting dust for years) and it made a huge difference.

Then came the arms of the cross. I literally fiddled with one side for over an hour before it finally was right. I ended up watching several different youtube videos on the full persian weave and also read several tutorials on different websites. Eventually the light dawned and the process made sense. The second arm went much more quickly.

The bail is a mobius made from 3 different color rings and is meant to symbolize the Trinity.

The mobius rings are 18 gauge 7 mm ID in black, silver and gun metal. The body of the cross is 18 gauge 5 mm ID non-tarnishing silver. According to the package, there were 60 rings and I have 9 left. As far as I can remember, I didn't lose or ruin any in the process.

Another Bracelet

Here is a Helm's Weave bracelet I made for my sister's birthday. I used 20 gauge 8 mm and 5 mm in silver and baby blue.

Learning (the hard way!)

Well, I've been messing around with chain maille for a while now and I've learned some things. The first is that I have a LOT more to learn! I keep trying different things with patterns I've gotten off the internet and most of them don't look right due to using the wrong size jump rings. I need to study up on inner and outer diameters and their ratios to get a better understanding of what works and what doesn't.

I have also learned that buying really good rings for my first project has spoiled me for the cheap stuff. There really is a difference. The rings I purchased from Unkamen Gifts and The Jump Ring Lady had smooth edges that closed beautifully. The cheaper ones I bought from AC Moore seemed cruder by comparison, like they were cut with something blunt and large.

A third thing I've learned is that it is really helpful to look at several different tutorials for the same weave. Sometimes the teacher just explains things better. Sometimes they have a slightly different method that is easier to understand or execute. For example, I was trying to do a European 4 in 1 weave and kept ending up with a confusing mess. Then I used some instructions that had the beginning ring anchored and used an upholsterer's pin to go through the rings and hold them in the correct position while placing the next ring in the pattern. Talk about making life easier!

Stay tuned - I have a backlog of projects that need completing, photographing, and posting.

Celtic Knot Bracelet in Progress

Here is a kit I purchased from The Jump Ring Lady called a Celtic Knot Bracelet. It is much fussier than the helm weave, but it's coming along and I think the finished product will be very pleasing. It is silver and magenta and is made of 20 gauge 4 mm and 6 mm jump rings.

Second Bracelet

I placed an order with The Jump Ring Lady which arrived yesterday, just in time for me to make a bracelet for my friend's birthday. I followed the pattern of the first bracelet, but due to the slightly different gauge and inner diameter (ID) I had to add several more rings in order to come up with the same length. The rings I used were 20 gauge, with the small being 5 mm ID and the large being 8 mm. The colors were silver and peacock blue. The ring count was: 42 small, 19 floater, 40 large. Neither picture does it justice, but at least you can get some idea of how it looked.

Earring Experiment

Unkamen Gifts has made a bunch of youtube tutorials on how to make the various kits they sell. After watching most of them last week, I decided to try my hand at making a mobius, which is a set of three twined jump rings. Their tutorial featured their "Eye Candy" bracelet, but they mentioned that it would work for earrings also. They had included some sample jump rings along with the pliers I purchased from them, so I put together some blue & purple earrings and was pleased with the results. They were fairly easy to assemble and have endless potential for variation - color, size, length of dangle...the mind swirls with ideas!!!

First Project

My first project was a bracelet in the helm weave pattern. It was not too hard to figure out and I LOVE the final result. The materials used were all 18 gauge anodized copper. The colors were rose gold and non-tarnishing silver. The ring sizes were 3.75 mm ID (inside diameter) and 7 mm ID. The head count is: 38 each small, 17 each floater, and 36 each large.

A New Addiction

A few years ago I worked with a man whose son was into chain maille. (Doesn't that spelling make it more romantic sounding than chain mail?) I thought it was interesting, but never did anything about it. Recently, after seeing chain maille classes offered in a continuing education brochure, I started looking into it. I got some books out of the library and of course, started surfing the internet. Eventually I found a person on Etsy (Unkamen Gifts) who sells chain maille jewelry, supplies and kits and I took the plunge. I purchased a bracelet kit, a cross pendant kit, and a set of pliers that had been prepped for use in chain maille.

There's a lot to learn, so I decided to start a new blog and catalog my projects, particularly the jump ring sizes used, since they have a huge impact on the final result.

Of course, the cats think it is all TOO fascinating for words!