Photo Tutorial Rainbow Orc Weave

Author's Note
Our projects were very popular during the lifetime of our business and we wanted to ensure they continued to provide inspiration for chain maillers whatever their experience. It's a pleasure to see they will live on with Chainmaillers.com
-Sarah Austin

Rainbow Orc Weave​

This is a weave by Nárrína, which looks great as different coloured units joined together. I wanted the colours to flow from one to another. There are two ways to join the units - using the same size rings as you used to make the unit (very difficult) or larger rings (much easier).

Materials​

For a 17.5cm (6.75") bracelet using small joining rings, you will need:

• 172 anodised aluminium jump rings, ID 4.2mm, WD 1.2mm - we used 16 red, 14 orange, 14 yellow, 14 green, 14 lime green, 14 ice green, 14 ice blue, 14 royal blue, 14 purple, 14 mauve, 14 ice pink and 16 rose pink
• gold plated jubilee heart Tierracast toggle - 14x17mm

NOTE: Each component measures about 1.2cm.

For a 19.5cm (7.5") bracelet using large joining rings, you will need:

• 146 anodised aluminium jump rings, ID 4.2mm, WD 1.2mm - we used 15 red, 13 orange, 13 yellow, 13 green, 13 ice green, 13 ice blue, 13 royal blue, 13 purple, 13 mauve, 13 ice pink and 14 rose pink
• 10 anodised aluminium jump rings, ID 7.8mm, WD 1.2mm - we used one each of red, orange, yellow, green, ice green, ice blue, royal blue, purple, ice pink and rose pink
• gold plated jubilee heart Tierracast toggle - 14x17mm

NOTE: Each component with the large joining ring measures about 1.5cm.

Tools:

• two pairs of smooth jawed chain nose, flat nose, or bent nose pliers

Instructions​

NOTE: This is a very fiddly weave especially when you are learning how to do it. If you can, from step 2, try and link each ring without lifting the component from your work mat. Once you have made a few components, you will be able to see the weave more easily.

1. Starting with rose pink rings, open nine rings and close four rings.
   
   Join four closed rings with one ring. Add one ring to each pair of closed rings to make a short chain (picture 1). Flip the right hand end ring towards the centre of the chain (as shown by the arrow).
   
   Flip the left hand end ring towards the centre of the chain as shown by the arrow (picture 2).
   
   Your rings should look like picture 3.
   
   
   
   
2. Move the upper end rings upwards, as shown by the arrows, so that they meet. Move the lower end rings, again shown by the arrows, downwards so that they also meet (picture 1).
   
   Your rings should look like picture 2.
   
   Turn your rings clockwise by 90 degrees so that they are positioned as in picture 3.
   
   Using one ring, link two end rings that you have just moved at the beginning of this step. Repeat for the other two end rings (picture 4).
   
   
   
   
3. Your component should look like picture 1. Turn your component over.
   
   Your component should look like picture 2. Flip the right hand end ring towards the centre as shown by the arrow.
   
   Flip the left hand end ring towards the centre as shown by the arrow in picture 3.
   
   Pat the centre of the component with your finger - it should look like picture 4.
   
   
   
   
4. You will now link the last four rings into each corner of the component to help stabilise it.
   
   Start in the bottom right hand corner. The flipped ring and the corner ring overlap - link the first ring where these rings overlap as in picture 1.
   
   Working anti-clockwise, repeat at each corner of the component as in pictures 2-4. It does not matter which corner you start at or which direction you work.
   
   Put the finished component carefully to one side.
   
   
   
   
5. Repeat steps 1-4 to make a component using ice pink rings.
   
   Place the rose and ice pink components next to each other - picture 1 (front) shows the front of the component.
   
   Turn the components over as in picture 2 (back). You join the components at the back. Pat the two opposing rose and ice pink rings joined in step 4 so that they are vertical and ready to be joined.
   
   
   
   
6. The picture below shows the pathway of the joining ring - it is perhaps easier to see with the larger ring.
   
   Be warned: joining with the ID 4.2mm, WD 1.2mm is very difficult as you do not have much ring for your pliers to grip. If you find it difficult with some colours (as I did with the green), link the joining ring through three corner rings, open the last corner ring and link to the joining ring.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Continue making components in the colour order shown below and join them to your chain until it is the desired length.
   
   
   
   
8. At each end of the chain, link one ring through two corner rings as in step 6.
   
   Using one ring each time, link the toggle ring and toggle bar to the end rings you have just added.
   
   

Variations​

• Make a matching necklace - this will help use up all those rings!
• Use fewer colours - pinks, purples and red or black, ice black, matt silver and silver or the colours of Autumn - red, yellow, orange and brown.
• If using a more limited colour palette, join several components of one colour before changing to the next or experiment by having a two colour component to mark the change of colour.

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©2021 Sarah Austin. All rights reserved.