by Jean Campbell
Perhaps it's my inner ADD child, or maybe it's just part of being a creative person, but I get sidetracked very easily. For example, I was tech editing Lynn Davy's project for the October/November 2011 issue of Beadwork magazine last week. Lynn's necklace design incorporates a strap that's stitched to look like chain maille. "What kind of chain maille pattern is this?" questioned my inner child. "Not sure you've actually done this one, Jean," said my inner child as she grabbed the mouse from my tech-editing brain and started surfing the Web. Click, click, click. Research, research, research. "Ah, it's the European 4-in-1 technique that was often used to make a fabric of chain for warriors' tunics," my inner child explains as she pulled my helpless self to the workbench. Before I knew it, I was miles away from editing Lynn's fantastic piece and hunkered over a bunch of jump rings and a pair of chain-nose pliers to figure out how this technique is done. Though I have an attention-deficit side, I'm also quite prudent, so I figure I'll redeem my inner child's naughty "playing while working" folly with a practical tutorial on how this wonderful ancient technique is done:
