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Mastering Chainmaille: Meredith Roddy

I did it!  I finally mastered all of the weaves in Lauren Anderson’s (the Chain Maille Lady) Basics of Chain Maille and Advanced Chain Maille books. When we added the program, I had dabbled a little bit with some of the weaves in the past, but hadn’t tried my hands at all of them including Turkish Round (yikes!), Half-Persian 3-1 (my new favorite) and the dreaded Dragonscale. 

When we put the books together, I had the opportunity to try the Turkish Round and the Half-Persian, but the Dragonscale evaded me for months. I hadn’t even tried it because I got it into my noggin that it was just too hard and frustrating. Let this be (another) lesson to me: not nearly so hard (I promise)! I put my mind to it, and I’m happy to say that thanks to Lauren’s clear and detailed instructions, I can now count myself a Dragonscale expert! 

Both books are wonderful resources to learn eight chain maille weaves – Byzantine/Birdcage, European 4-in-1, Turkish Round, Full Persian/Foxtail, Half-Persian 3-in-1, Japanese 12-2, Parallel/Helm’s Weave and Dragonscale. I’ll admit that some of the weaves are challenging, but the detailed photos and step-by-step instructions break it down to a manageable level. Warning: once you “get it," you’ll likely be hooked.

Lauren also shows many finished projects that use the weaves in non-traditional ways. These books are a must-have if you're interested in trying your hand at a new technique!

--Meredith Roddy for Beadalon

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