Japanese Patterns - Hitoye-Gusari Mail (2/4 Grid)

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Hitoye-Gusari Mail (2/4 Grid)

Base Pattern

Hitoye-Gusari Mail or 2/4 Grid is very close to me as it is the first mail pattern that I created.

This is a historical Japanese pattern and while obviously weaker than European Mail patterns, Japanese Mail patterns in general were designed to be used in a completely different environment of arms and armour technology. In general they were never used for straight Mail Shirts. Rather, they were used over padded steel plates or to connect steel plates.

I enjoy using Japanese patterns for a variety of projects as they are lighter and more breathable than European patterns. They also offer a lot of flexibility in their ability to be shaped, see my Hitoye-Gusari Glove for a good example of this.

Hitoye-Gusari is particularly flexible when rotated 45 degrees, so that the grain is like a diamond, instead of a square. On the bias the pattern has an incredible ability to collapse around complex shapes, such as well-endowed chests.

Hitoye-Gusari is also very popular in movies because it tends to film better than European Patterns. A Great example of this can be seen during the opening sequence of "Gladiator". Historically correct, the backline archers are wearing chainmail armour, but quite historically incorrect it is made of an enlarged Hitoye-Gusari that was specifically used because it shows up better on film.

It is important to note that in Japanese patterns the links alternate between sitting horizontally and vertically. In authentic Japanese Mail patterns, the vertical links would be oval-shaped. If you wish to emulate these authentic patterns, make sure that all the gold coloured links in the following Japanese Patterns are oval-shaped.

2/4 Grid means that vertical links pass through 2 horizontal links and horizontal links pass through 4 vertical links to form a grid-like pattern.

The later steps of this pattern are completely repetitive and are merely included to give you a feel for this pattern.

The ratio of links for creating Hiyote-Gusari Mail is all open links. However, if you add this ratio to the ratio for creating the base Japanese 1 in 2 Chain, the overall ratio is 1 Closed Link to 2 Opened Links.

Starting Hitoye-Gusari Mail

Step 1	Start with a length of Japanese 1 into 2 Chain, for this example it need be no longer than 12 horizontal links.

Step 2 Starting a Row	Bring the chain back on itself to form the base of a new row. Each horizontal link in a new row sits above a horizontal link from the previous row. Avoid twists, keeping the vertical links perfectly straight and keeping the horizontal links aligned as in the illustration.

Step 3 1st attachment for a new row	Place an open link through the 2 links coloured copper in the illustration. Close the open link.

Step 4 Continuing to attach a new row	Place an open link through the 2 links coloured copper in the illustration. Close the open link.

Step 5 Continuing to attach a new row	Place an open link through the 2 links coloured copper in the illustration. Close the open link. Repeat this step for the entire length of new rows. The following steps are simply to illustrate how to continue making new rows, they basically repeat the previous 4 steps.

Step 6 Starting another Row	Bring the chain back on itself to form the base of a new row.

Step 7 Attaching a new row	Use open links to attach the new row to the pattern as in the illustration. Close each new open link as you add it to the pattern. When you reach the end of the row go on to the next step of folding the chain back on itself again.

Step 8 Starting another Row	Bring the chain back on itself to form the base of a new row.

Step 9 Attaching a new row	Use open links to attach the new row to the pattern as in the illustration. Close each new open link as you add it to the pattern. When you reach the end of the row you can repeat the previous step of folding the chain back on itself again. Or you can choose to open the vertical link that attaches the chain to the mail to finish the piece.

Finished Japanese Hitoye-Gusari Mail

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