Studio open house is finally here! Sunday, October 6 from 12-4…we’re having to punt on music, but we’ll get by. There’s going to be cheese & crackers, wine & beer, hot apple cider (might need it, going to be chilly!) spiked with cinnamon, and of course PI(e)!
I finished up a great pair of earrings and a pendant to go with the LBD bracelet today. Pictures didn’t turn out well at all, so I’m going to try again tomorrow.
I also worked on a couple of Byzantine weave pieces – a big chunky copper bracelet, and a section for a popular necklace (in copper as well). The necklace gets finished with black Greek leather and is perfect with an open collar shirt.
It’s interesting working in the art center…people stop in periodically, and I greet them and let them know to ask if they have questions. Inevitably, they end up in the back of the studio with me, watching what I’m working on. There are usually some questions, and I explain the process of creating chainmaille jewelry.
It all starts with a big pile of rings.
Depending on the weave I’m working on, I line up my rings, opening and closing them in preparation for weaving. With Byzantine, I ALWAYS work in groups of 10, 60 rings in each row with two closed and four open.
When I close those rings, I CLOSE them. Sometimes when I have to resize something, it’s hard to find the join to take rings off!
At the beginning of the chain, I use a special tool to help me hang on to the end.
Because of the way this weave is constructed, it ends up being a little square. Someone noticed this today while they were looking at my work, and was amazed!
After weaving all 180 rings, making a clasp, tumbling it so that it’s nice and shiny and clean, I end up with something like this:
