Bet you didn’t see this one coming…

Ever had a hobby wrap you lovingly around its fork and eat you in one gulp? Well, I have, but this is even particularly voracious for a hobby of mine. Maybe there’s something metaphorical about it…you know, making chains… Anyway, here, for the viewing pleasure you probably didn’t know you had (and, um, my storage and reference), are the first run of pictures of my first pieces. That’s right, my first pictures, marking the first time using the first lightbox I’ve ever made (first time using a lightbox, period), of my very first chainmail pieces. …What I’m trying to say here is, don’t be surprised at a little amateurism, eh? But still, look and enjoy, if you dig this sort of thing. ;)

This here is a choker necklace I finished recently…it’s my first Oriental weave piece, and it’s purpler than the crappy lighting makes it look.  (Look, I just made the first lightbox I’ve ever seen in my life and used it for the first time to take these pictures.  Don’t expect Ansel Adams.)

Here it is in close-up:

(More after the cut!)

And here is it with an attempt at putting a background to it…

Now for something less than completely different!

This bracelet wasn’t really supposed to be a bracelet; I was trying to learn the weave called "Elfweave"…and let me tell you, it’s a biiiiiii—anyway.  I was so freaked out with amazement and relief when, after almost a WEEK, I learned the weave well enough to make a piece this big, that I slapped a clasp on it and swore I’d never wash my wrist again.  (The colors in this pic are pretty wonky too; sorry.)

…And lastly, and almost importantly…this weave, I think I may have invented.  I made it up just goofing around, and I’ve sunk several hours into the main weave database without finding it, so who knows?  In any case, if I did invent it, I’m naming it Asian Bicycles.  I love naming things.  ;)

The big clunky thing is the first sample of it I ever made; the bracelet I made afterwards to get a better-looking sample (the first one is made from many-times-repurposed, dirty old rings, if you can’t tell).  But the bracelet involved small rings with a bigger AR (aspect ratio) and so it was also floppier, which is why I include both.  I love the stiffer one as a wallet chain, especially if some rambo could make it in steel.  (My hands won’t do steel yet.  All my pieces are aluminum.)

Well, that’s it…If you read this far, thanks for indulging me, and feel free to critique the hell out of my chainmail and/or my photography; I could use some pointers.

Happy Sunday!