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Book review: Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop


 As chain maille gains in popularity year by year, wonderful new books keep appearing that will help you get started.  This new volume from Interweave Books was written by Karen Karon.  Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop is a terrific beginners book, and will no doubt be of interest to those with experience too.  Karen covers all the basics of materials and techniques, but she has added some amazing "next step" information to each chapter that everyone will love: speed weaving tips!  Wow, I'm still working on getting my jump rings to be the right size :-)

Never fear about that either, because Karen has a terrific series of charts at the end with the aspect ratio problem all spelled out for you.  Not being a lover of math, I'm so happy that someone else has done it for me ;-)

Karen covers seven different popular chain maille weaves, with a project included to use the new skills in each section.  These weaves cover the three types: chain, sheet, and unit weaves.  The designs and weaves progress in complexity as you work your way through the book, so practically everyone can find something that suites their skill level.

I like how each chapter develops an entire skill set and introduces you to the necessary tips, tricks, shortcuts, and approaches to help you master the weave and go beyond the included project.  The illustrations are particularly helpful, using many different colors to make the step-by-step instructions super-easy to follow.  Yup, I feel like even I could do it!


Some of Karen Karon's beautiful work





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