Tolerance

Way back when I first started this blog, I made an entry about tolerance and how people treat different subcultures of their fellow human beings.  Specifically, how science fiction and fantasy people were seen as freaks to some in the public who do not like these genres, don't understand them, or, will not admit they like the genre for fear that they too will be made fun of by their friends, family, and other people who make fun of anything that isn't what they are "in" to.  In various stages of my life (so far), I have had more than enough opportunity to be involved in and interested in subjects that many in "normal" society deem strange, weird, and just plain stupid or a waste of time and money.  And yet, over the years, I have noticed that the same things that I've been ridiculed for are now the trend in vogue.  


A few weeks ago, I spent a considerable amount of time, money, and energy at the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee.  This was my 7th or 8th show, and it was a really good show this year.  I first got into beading when my friend Kathie, who had moved to Ohio, came to visit me and asked if we could go to the Bead Show.  I also have another friend, Jill, who had already been going to this show and had been beading for awhile.  As I was a dedicated quilter by this time (this was wwwaaaayyyyy before I went back to school in 2008), I didn't need another hobby.  But, Kathie came for a visit and Jill told me if I found anything I like I could give it to her and she'd make a piece for me.  It was a truly eye-opening experience for me the first time I walked into the dealer's room of the (then) Midwest Express Airlines Center.  The ENTIRE upper floor was filled with tables and booths of dealers from around the world, and had every item related to beading, buttons, and the accouterments to store, house, and complete all things beady.  I bought one thing, gave it to Jill, and she made a necklace for me.  Kathie came back the next year, and I bought a few more things, including a seed bead kit that is a thimble holder.  Because every quilter needs a thimble holder.  

The black holder is my first seed bead project

But, my husband said something to me that released the mental gate in my head that was holding back the whole "yes, I really do need a new hobby" thought.  He said to me, "Beads are small, they don't take up as much room as fabric".  Now, he and Kathie were joking with me at the time because I kept denying that I was going to start beading.  I was going to give this kit to Jill and had every thought that she would be ok with this and make it for me.  Well, when I showed it to her, she rolled her eyes and laughed at me.  I was such a newbie to the whole beading hobby, that it never occurred to me that there are subcultures within subcultures.  She flat out denied making the holder for me and I took it home.  But, the frugal person I am, was not about to let that kit go to waste.  So, never having done any beading before, I dumped out the seed beads, grabbed the directions, and made it myself.  And, that, is how I came into the world of beading.  Little did I know that this was an advanced project that no newbie in her right mind would have ever taken on.  But, make it I did, and I did a really good job of it too.  I also needed three cortisone shots in my left arm because I knew nothing of beading ergonomics, but that's a whole 'nother blog.  


The title of this blog is "Tolerance" and I'm getting to that point.  I love seed beading, and a few years ago when Kathie showed me a chain maille bracelet she had made, I was instantly smitten with the medium.  It was a calling to me, one I can't really explain, and ever since I always have a piece I'm working on.  I switch back and forth and sometimes coincide working on seed beading and chain maille, and when I went to the Bead Show this year, I took two classes on chain maille instead of beading.  I'm self-taught for chain maille too.  Everything I've learned has been from the internet, magazines, or eye-ballin' other people's work.  Now, there's really nothing new in chain maille as far as standard weaves are concerned so there is no chance of copyright infringement.  If the smithy's from ancient times thought that the armor they were making would eventually be fine jewelry, they would have laughed in your face.  But, here it is.  Pieces at the Bead Show were in high three figures price ranges and every one of them I could make, or learn to make.  It's just too bad that most women, and some men, think that chain maille is of a lower class in the jewelry world and wouldn't even think of wearing a piece unless it comes from a high priced jeweler.  There is no tolerance for something that isn't from the "normal" world of jewelry, and there still persists the notion that unless it has a recognizable name brand, it isn't "real" jewelry.  Very snobbish and intolerant.  Thus, the title of this blog.  

My favorite chain maille are the micro mailles.  The smaller the ring, the better.  I'm currently making a Jens Pind 3 in 24 gauge 1/16th inch gold rings.  If this measurement means nothing to you, the ring is about the size of a small tapioca pearl.  Not the large ones, the SMALL ones. I had taken the class Jens Pind 5 at the bead show and the teacher showed us on much larger rings which were gigantic for me.  I had on one of my favorite chain maille necklaces, a roundmaille in fine silver, 5 across.  Roundmaille is made with Euro 4-in-1, rolled together and "zipped" up to form a tube.  I made this necklace in the same 24 gauge 1/16th size ring.  Now, the Jens Pind weave is a very advanced weave and I took this class because I was having trouble starting the weave.  And, come to find out, many and most people do.  In fact, the teacher works at a store where they SELL the started weaves for people!  But, because I don't know any better, I asked her to show me how to start the weave.  She was shocked that I wanted to learn this, and I was expecting to learn it because me, being the frugal person I am, am not going to pay someone else to start a weave for me when I'm perfectly capable of doing my own work.  

Roundmaille necklace

The teacher comes over to show me how to start the Jens Pind 5 weave, and she shrieks "OMG! Your necklace is roundmaille??!  I thought it was just a chain!  Let me see it!"  This is a common thing at the Bead Show.  People are always looking at other people's stuff.  In fact, it's the only place I've ever been to where it's acceptable to run up to someone, grab whatever is on them and fondle it.  It's a bit disconcerting at first, but you quickly get used to it.  I'm not a touchy person unless I know you really well, so it's still uncomfortable for me when people do this.  And, it's usually a necklace at a particular level that isn't really appropriate for public touching, but it's never like that.  There's so much to be in awe over, that you really can't help touching or staring.  Odd, but I digress.  I take off my necklace, give it to her and she scrutinizes it for several minutes and then looks up to me and says, "you have an incredible tolerance for annoying things".  And, in all this time I've never once thought of chain maille as annoying, although sometimes the rings get frustrating when they don't cooperate.  

Yes, that is the head of a standard pin next to the ring

The word "tolerance" however, stuck in my mind as something that I wouldn't need to ever associate with chain maille, yet recently when a person I know said to me (and you know who you are :o)) "I used to make fun of those kids that were into science fiction and fantasy, but now I love the genre and realize what I missed out on all those years" when we were talking about chain maille and the book series "Game of Thrones". (And yes, you're forgiven)  I've known for many years that if people were truly honest with themselves, yes, they too would like this genre and the fact that there are very good stories to be told within them, and that the uniqueness of this world is the very same "something different" they are craving in their lives.  A coworker just told me that she didn't know what she was going to do with herself when she retired.  And yet, my thought is, I have so much I want to do, why can't I retire now?  That, in a nutshell, is the difference between someone who has lived her life in the "normal" world and someone who keeps a foot in both worlds.  Because you never know when a good hobby and story are going to come along.  She also insists that UW Sheboygan is a "crafty" college and said that she would never pay for "crafty" lessons.  I'm not sure where you start with intolerant people like her because even when I correct her, she still persists in saying these things because it's her passive/aggressive way of making fun of me.  I almost always have a chain maille piece on me, and occasionally she will ask if I've made that from one of my "crafty" lessons.  Her questions are done in such a way she thinks she is being nice, but she is so transparent that most times I pretend I haven't heard her.  There is no winning with intolerant people like her, and she is so full of jealousy because she won't allow herself to embrace something "out of the normal" world.  Her loss.       


I have an incredible tolerance for annoying things.  Even a teacher of chain maille, and I might add, she is making her wedding dress from rings, finds what I do and crave annoying.  Maybe that is my skill in life.  All those small things need to be put together to make a bigger picture.  And, because it was established in a certain Spanish class that I can't adapt well to just the parts, I need to see that finished piece in the big picture.  That is where my tolerance comes from, knowing that eventually there will be a bigger picture.  I just need to add one more ring....