old hobbies die hard...

Years and years ago I used to sit at Denny's for hours at a time, until the wee hours of the morning. There were all these people that used to do the same thing, and we were all friends. It was like a big clubhouse, really. We could sit there and grab our own coffee from behind the counter. We could get the cooks to make up special concoctions that were somehow better than the stuff on the menu. We could get a free meal by sitting there and rolling the silverware for the waitstaff so they didn't have to. We could play cards, or board games, or even D&D. It was our meeting and returning point for going to other places ad coming back "home". We met some of our closest friends there, and some people even met their husbands or wives there. Yep.. that was the life.

Ok, there is a point to this story, so enough reminiscing!

At one point, I used to sit in my booth at Denny's for hours at a time creating chainmail. Not the letters that you send to people telling them they have to send it on or they'll die in the next 5 seconds, but actual chainmail armor and jewelry. With little metal rings and a pair of pliers. At Denny's. I made a coif (hat), and a bra (yep), and a bunch of headpieces and necklaces. Most of this (not the bra) was pretty much geared towards wearing to the renaissance festival... but then I started making more jewelry and delicate stuff. At fest there were a couple of booths that sold chainmail stuff and it was always ungodly expensive, so I knew that I COULD make stuff and sell it for a pretty decent price, but I never really did. Even after making all that stuff I just didn't have the materials to make really "nice" stuff, so I didn't really push my abilities and learn all the techniques for making really pretty stuff... and it just kinda drifted away after we stopped hanging out at Denny's (because they all closed practically!).

Now I have come across a whole bunch of stores and sites and online stores that are dedicated to making chainmail stuff, and I see they're still selling for really good prices. This is jewelry and stuff that I know I can make in a relatively short about of time and they're being sold for hundreds of dollars! Granted, some of the stuff is made with really expensive mats*, but...

So yeah... I think I'm going to get back into it. I think I'm going to spend the cash and get a nice pair of pliers and some nice rings and stuff and learn some new weaves. I'll post some pics!

* NOTE: I realized that I actually still am a WoW dork and use odd phrases in the course of normal conversation... mats = materials ... I decided not to change it because it amused me :)