How to make a Coif

[Starbuck]

I wanted to try my hand at making a coif, so I looked on Utube and found this video …

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. I’ve completed the crown and the initial 54 rings around the crown. I understand that it’s necessary to expand the crown until it fits your head. I also understand you expand by adding a ring between two existing rings. My question is, do I add these additional rings all the way around or just occasionally on each row around the crown until it fits my head?

 

[chainmaillers.com]

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If I'm understanding your question correctly, you only need to add as many as are necessary to expand the next row to the size that you need. I would space any expansion rings out so that they are placed symmetrically. In other words, if you add to the left side, add one in the same place on the right side. You can also add to the midpoint at the back. You would then expand further from those rings if more expansion is needed.

There's also this great tutorial from Phong about expansions that you should check out:

CGI Tutorial - Euro 4-1 Expansion

Author's Note I wanted to contribute my tutorials to Chainmaillers.com to help ensure that the entire chainmaille community has access to them. The tutorials are presented here with the same images and text from my old site CGMaille. I hope they...

chainmaillers.com

Hope that helps

 

[foodini]

When I did a coif for the first time, I had no idea what I was doing, but my method worked out very, very well. I started by making a long strap of chain, 5 rows wide. This served as a measuring device. Whenever I was about to start a row, I'd place the circle of maille I had - so far - on my head. I'd then lay the strap around the perimeter of the existing circle to measure how many rings the next row would need. The difference between that number and the number of rings in the previous row would be the number of rings I needed to add to the previous row to expand.

For example, If the last circle had 30 rings in it and the strap measured 36 rings, I'd add 6 rings to the last row I'd already completed. I'd then add the next row of 36 to the expanded previous row. As you're doing this, you'll notice that there are spots in your pattern that hang lower than a neat horizontal circle would dictate. Make sure to make your expansions elsewhere. It will mean that, occasionally you'll have lots of rings between expansions and few between some others, but if you keep this up, by the time you get to the middle of your forehead, you should have a neat line, right about where a baseball cap would hit you (assuming the cap is perfectly level.)

This won't work, of course, unless your first ring is equidistant between the points where a baseball cap would meet the center of your forehead and the center of the back of your head, because you'll have the same number of rows between these points.

Don't be afraid to work backward and change things. If part of your pattern is sagging, delete an expansion above it. It's tricky work, and you'll screw it up plenty of times, but it's critical to be fearless about it, or you'll be unhappy with the final product.