Chain Maille

I've got a new addiction!! My name is L and I'm a chain maille-a-holic! When you think of chain mail you immediately think of suits of armour and the dark ages but chain maille is (apparently) the new fashion thing (but don't hold me to it!)

It all started about two years ago when I saw a great byzantine necklace on my favourite website http://www.etsy.com/ If you don't know, Etsy is a site where people sell their handcrafted items. This could be jewellery but also could be paintings, knitted scarves, wooden boxes. Whatever you can imagine, it's for sale on there. But back to the byzantine.....it's made of linked rings that you can open and close, these are called 'jump rings' and they come in all different sizes, metals & colours. The shape seemed impossible to make so after an internet search I found some instructions but it was soooooo complicated and fiddly I gave up.

But down the line I've come back to it and attended a 3 hour workshop with my Mum where we made 4 different type of maille. Having come back (and lost my instructions - d'oh!) I've made a bracelet up of a couple of the designs and have found a free tutorial site http://www.cgmaille.com/ giving the full instructions of how to make about 50 different types.

So, with that in mind I've been beavering away trying out some of the beginner designs, and my goodness, they are not easy. But they are very effective and very addictive. It takes its toll on your hands and shoulders due to being hunched over with a pair of pliers and I know that makes me sound so very attractive.

Finally, be very afraid if you search chain maille on Facebook. There is a middle aged lady modeling a chain maille bikini sans underwear. I haven't quite decided how you get it on or off as there's no 'give' in it, maybe you just link the last ring together when you have it on??? Anyway, more seriously, why would you want a chain maille bikini, thong or the other thing which I haven't put a name to but would seriously make your eyes water!