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Japanese Dragonscale or Scale of the Orient
Article © MAIL User: Corvus

This tutorial is by paula and is reproduced here with her kind permission. paula can be contacted at: info[at]pieceofmaille[dot]com

This is a step-by-step tutorial for making the weave known as "Japanese Dragonscale" or "Scale of the Orient".
Image: japds1.jpg

Rings used: 18 ga 5/16" and 18 ga 5/32"

When making this weave, I usually pre-close the smaller rings and open the larger ones; the smaller ones are then added to the larger, which are used for putting the weave together.
Image: japds2.jpg

Please note: in the pictures below, red dots are used to indicate the small rings through which a large ring will be added in the next step. Light-blue dots denote the newest rings (just added).

1. To start, add four smaller rings to one larger and close it.
Image: japds3.jpg

2. Next, put one large ring through the ring marked with the red dot (above), add three small rings to it and close. You'll get:
Image: japds4.jpg

3. Double the large rings:
Image: japds5.jpg

3. Loop a large ring through the two small rings marked with red in the picture above, add four small rings and close. Like this:
Image: japds6.jpg

4. Double the large ring just added:
Image: japds7.jpg

5. Next, the first floating (sandwiched) ring is added to the weave: slip a large ring between the layers formed by the previous large rings so that it encircles the three small rings marked with red in the picture above. The result should look like this:
Image: japds8.jpg

Image: japds9.jpg

6. Add another floating ring around the three small rings dotted with red (above):
Image: japds10.jpg

7. Loop a large ring through the two small, red-marked rings; add two small rings to it and close. Note that the ring just added should be on top of the floating ring:
Image: japds11.jpg

8. Double the large ring by adding another ring on the other side of the floating ring:
Image: japds12.jpg

9. Loop a large ring through the two red-dotted small rings, add two small rings and close.
Image: japds13.jpg

10. And once again, double the large ring just added:
Image: japds14.jpg

11. Add one more floating ring (around the red-marked rings in the picture above):
Image: japds15.jpg

Now the pattern of the weave is clearly visible with alternating rows of doubled large rings and floating rings surrounding the triangles of small, connecting rings.

12. Next, another row of floating rings is added: loop a large ring around the three red-dot rings above:
Image: japds16.jpg

13. And repeat, adding another floating ring next to the one just added.
Image: japds17.jpg

14. The next row is again formed by the doubled rings: add a large ring to the two small rings marked with red (above); add two small rings to it and close. Double the large ring like before.
Image: japds18.jpg

15. Loop a large ring through the three red-dotted small rings (above; one of them was just added), add one small ring to it and close. Double the large ring.
Image: japds19.jpg

16. Add one more floating ring around the three red-dotted small rings:
Image: japds20.jpg

Now you have a patch of Japanese Dragonscale!

If you want to keep the width of the piece, you should (have) add(ed) two more small rings to both pairs of doubled rings before the last floating ring (the red lines in the picture below). Then you'd add two more floating rings (the green squigglies), one on either side of the one in the middle; these two would loop around two (instead of three) small rings at this point (the red lines). The third small ring completing the triangle pattern would be added together with the other small rings (the blue lines) connected to the three pairs of doubled large rings (yellow) that form the next row in the weave. And so it would continue (two floating, two pairs of doubled, three floating, three pairs of doubled...).
Image: japds21.jpg

I usually add an extra small ring through the small-ring-triangles at the edge of the weave (see the first picture of this tutorial); that way the triangles won't "collapse" :).

This tutorial was made by Paula Kosunen
Original URL: http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=557