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.