I've been doing this blog thing for
a whole month now and I realized that I haven’t included anything relating to
my chainmaille work yet. I was considering writing about the construction of
chainmaille, but I realised that, on its own, that might turn out rather dull –
after all, you can only say so much about linking rings together. That got me
thinking about my odd combination of occupations, which led me to start
thinking about why I enjoy them both so much and what links the two together.
The best place to start is with a
brief description on how chainmaille is assembled. I am, of course, functioning
on the assumption that anyone reading this understands the writing process,
i.e. I make things up and write them down, hopefully in a way that will
entertain people – preferably with a lack of pointing and laughing.
Chainmaille was originally developed
as a type of armor, back in the ancient days, and has since been adapted to
make jewelry, clothing and just about anything else people can dream up. It is
made by linking metal rings together in various patterns, or weaves, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. It all starts with a single ring.
No, this is not the One Ring to Rule
Them All, though I have often thought of making a shirt out of those.
Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of money, but if anyone out there does, I
would be delighted to make it for you!
I digress. So, this one ring must
first be bent closed, ideally with a pair of pliers, so that the ring appears
to be one solid ring. This can take quite a lot of practice to achieve as many
metals tend to have a bit of spring in them and the edges need to be flush to
avoid scratching. Once that is done, you move on to the next ring, then the
next one and the next, until the project is done. The following is the progression
of a small piece of European 4 in 1, one of the easiest and most common weaves,
as it is constructed one ring at a time.
Hopefully, that will give you a good
idea of what it is like to make chainmaille. Now to start comparing it to writing!
The first thought that came to me
was that, when writing, a book often goes together like a piece of chainmaille.
You keep adding little bits on until the whole is complete. Both when you’re
working on a book and working on a piece of chainmaille, you often have a
general idea of how it will turn out, but you can only clearly see small parts
and you hope the rest will work itself out. The more you make, the clearer the
overall project becomes, just like with chainmaille. A lot of time and patience
go into both projects.
So writing a book is a lot like
making chainmaille and they both provide me with a similar sort of enjoyment,
but is that the only reason why I was drawn to both of these? Perhaps at first,
but I've now come to realise how well the two complement each other. You see,
chainmaille takes a long time to make, while a book requires a whole lot of
background thinking. You can’t work an eight hour day constantly writing; your
brain can’t keep up with that! Besides, the best results come from an idea that
has been stewing for a while.
Likewise, chainmaille all day isn't the greatest idea ever. You end up with hands that are callused,
blistered and have distinct pliers indents in them. Sometimes that’s after only a couple of hours!
So, not only is the brain allowed to quietly work in the background while the
chainmaille is being made, but the chainmaille requires breaks. A perfect
opportunity for writing! At the end of the day (or year, as the case may be),
the two jobs get completed together because each of them can be worked on while
a break is being taken from the other. What other jobs link together and mesh so well?
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
Hi J C, I've nominated you again, this time for Sophie's Flight of Fantasy Award! Congratulations!! The rules etc. are on my blog :D
ReplyDeletehttp://lindseyjparsons.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/the-flight-of-fantasy-award-for-me/