This past week I attended a convention which featured its own pop-up makerspace. There were many projects and workshops available to attendees, but I was especially excited about an instructional workshop on constructing chainmail. The process was meditative and engrossing. The simple repetition of starting the segments, maintaining the pattern, and linking the segments brought a deep sense of relaxation for me in an otherwise stressful and public space. I learned to construct chainmail in what the instructor called 'European Style' and a friend later identified as '4-in-1' style. This style is more difficult to assemble due to more ring linkages, but only requires a single size of ring. We were also instructed in 'Japanese Style', which was simpler to assemble, but seemed (in my completely amateur capacity) to leave more gaps in the rings. The latter style also required two different sizes of ring, making it potentially more resource sensitive. I would certainly like to do a bit of this at home, and was pleased to find that the barrier to entry is quite low. One need only purchase some rings and two flat-nose pliers to get well on their way to making a lovely weave. Rings are sold by the pound in lots around 4000 for $20 or so. We worked with aluminum, which was easy to bend and was available in a variety of colors thanks to anodizing.
In subsequent discussions with friends, it was apparent that this kind of repetitive activity and stimulating tactile environment really helped to maintain some inner order in an otherwise chaotic sensory space. Maybe this sort of thing could be deployed at more conventions.
