In a little departure from the knitting I have been having a play around with chain maille bracelets made from rubber O rings and anodised aluminium jump rings.

It is such a lot of fun, although it does take a bit of practice to get used to holding a pair of pliers in each hand.

The rubber rings give the bracelets an interesting tactile quality, and are also slightly stretchy, allowing you to make a comfortable bracelet without a fastening, but which doesn’t fall off.

I got the o-rings and the jump rings from Bead Sisters, along with a very useful book called Chain Mail Jewelry, which is suitable for the total beginner but still manages to cover a lot of different techniques.