What can you do with it?

I’ve always loved chainmaille! I can’t tell you whether I got that from my love of medieval history, reading too much about King Arthur, Merlin, etc., the romanticism of the knights, or any combination of those and much more. All I know is that I love it and I’m completely addicted to it.

Whenever I tell people I make chainmaille, I generally get one of two responses:
1) Why in the world would you make that (insert expletive here) and send it to people???
2) What the (insert expletive here) is that!?

So, I shortened it to “I make maille”. That didn’t do a whole lot of good, either. Now I started getting those non-verbal cues like the tilt of the head with an “I’m completely lost now” look or a shrug of the shoulders, or even the scrunched up face that says “I’m desperately trying to comprehend what you’re talking about but you must be from Pluto”.

Come along on a journey with me and I’ll introduce you to the incredibly decadent, rich, sensuous, glorious, storied, sometimes dark, and endlessly appealing world of chainmaille. I promise that you won’t be disappointed!

Hmmm…where to stop first on this journey….how about we start with “what can you do with it?” While most people still equate chainmaille with the knights and their suits of armor and some are beginning to discover the myriad ways in which it can be used to create jewelry, there’s still a LOT more that can be done with it!

Let’s take a look:
Housewares!! Bet you didn’t know that, did you? How about this incredible basket? Not into baskets? That’s ok. How about a new CD rack? We could all use one of those!

Ladies, looking for a standout accessory? How about this purse? How about shoes? How about a wallet for the gents?

So, you see, there’s just so very much that can be done with this versatile medium!

Next time we’re going to start exploring a bit of the history of the different types of weaves: Japanese, European, and Persian. They’re all wonderful, distinctly different, and amazingly beautiful!