old familiar weaves and new ones

I decided it was time, as the new year began, to learn some new chain weaves. Almost everything I have done recently is persian, one hour less sleep, or byzantine, with a few forays into half-persian (snake chain), möbius flowers, simple 2-in-2 when I’m in a hurry, and of course european 4-in-1 for flat areas.









I started looking for weaves that fit the new aluminum rings I got from The Ring Lord. I tried elf-weave, but it was a mess. I thought I had gotten past the initial falling-apart stage, but it never seemed to develop a pattern, just looked like a heap of rings. Then I tried sweet pea.
The AR 4.1 rings I had (18-gauge swg 3/16” anodized aluminum) were said to be the perfect size for this. But I thought they were a tad too large. The inner rings seemed to have too much play, and not to line up well. So I tried with some of my copper 18-gauge awg 5/32” rings, which are a shade tighter, AR 4. They work. I have to make more rings, but I made a little section of 8 “peas,” and I think it will do.



Still looking for uses for my colorful rings, I looked up DNA chain. Once I got straight in my head how the little rings go on, that worked well. Though I believe my 1/8” green rings could afford to be smaller, 3/32” sized. You can do it with all the small rings closed, and all the large ones open. It’s kind of tedious, closing all those 1/8” 20-gauge rings. But after desultorily working on it for over a week, I have a 24” chain, plus two short bits for earrings.

I am going to make it a lariat, with a stone-weighted end passing through a sterling loop with a hook in it, to be fastened wherever the wearer wishes. I hoped to use one of my new amethyst discs as the stone, but the color just isn’t right, especially in sunlight. So I think it will be a construction of an aventurine zuni-type bear in a silver frame. Got to get the soldering-fu going.