Adventures in Chain Mail

I went through a bit of a chain-mail obsession a couple of months ago.  The triggering event was the purchase of a package of large black jump rings for a button project; they didn't work for that, so I looked for another use and found a bracelet with the European 4-1 pattern in Chain Mail Jewelry:

Photographing this was tricky.

The original pattern called for alternating rows of titanium and rubber rings, allowing the bracelet to stretch over one's hand.  I just had the rings so I made the bracelet longer.  The rings are inexpensive and kind of scratchy, but it's fun and slinky on my wrist.

Not satisfied with one project, I opened up a mixed bag of rings I picked up ages ago, in all different colors and sizes.  A little bit of math later, I was able to adapt another pattern from the book to make a "crochet mandala":

Unfortunately I don't have the necessary small rings to keep all the rings on the edge nice and flat rather than floppy, so this piece is unfinished.  I could just sew the piece onto felt or something, but I'd prefer to keep it unlined.  I should figure out a solution soon (or find the right rings) because I love the colors.

I had actually made the earrings that go with this back when I first bought the book, using silver:

They are a little stiff, though, because I couldn't quite get the right sizes for the rings (perhaps because there are different ways to measure the rings and it is not always easy to go from one to the other).

I want to make more.  Urban Maille has great kits.  Mr. Beadgirl gave me the kits for three bracelets 10 years ago (sheesh); I should do some virtual window-shopping to see what's new.