This page is not meant really to describe how to weave Half-Persian 6-1 chain variants. Instead, it's meant to demonstrate some theory about how the HP weaves work. To do so, I've made some images of three different Half-Persian 6-1 chain weaves, to provide pictoral support. If you actually want to make the chains, you'll need large rings. I'm talking larger than 3/8" ID 16 gauge, which is adequate for HP 5-1 but not for this. The rings rendered in these instructions have an aspect ratio of 13! Of course, that's overdoing things. You could probably get away with 3/8" ID 18 gauge.

Yes, I said three different variants, all with the same name. How is this possible? Without too much trouble, as it turns out. If you make HP 4-1 as in my tutorial, you should run across a segment that says "Pass an open ring through the ring on the right, from above. Then add a closed ring onto the open ring. Then pass the open ring through the remaining two closed rings, from below." The "from above" and "from below" parts are really what make the Half-Persians so annoying to weave, since if you get them wrong then you get a weave that isn't what you're aiming for. To simplify the verbiage, I'm going to call the "from above" rings "down" rings (since you pass your new ring down through them) and the "from below" rings "up" rings (for similar reasons).

Okay, so that gets us some terms defined, but what else does it gain us? Well, HP 4-1 as we commonly know it is the 2-down 2-up version. That is, when you add a new open ring, you pass it down through two rings (the second of which is generally a preclosed ring not already on the chain), and then up through two rings. The thing is, there's no particular reason why we have to keep things even. Half-Persian 6-1, for example, can be made in these three forms: 1-down 5-up, 2-down 4-up, and 3-down 3-up. You can also make 4-down 2-up and 5-down 1-up forms, but they're just mirror images of the 2-4 and 1-5 forms. Let's take each of the three forms in turn.

5-1 split start

This is the beginning of the 1-down 5-up chain. To continue it, you would simply stick a closed ring on an open ring and then pass the open ring through the five rightmost copper rings, from below. It's like weaving HP 3-1, except denser. The finished chain would look something like this:

5-1 split

This weave has a drastically emphasized V-shaped cross-section, which might conceivably be useful for wrapping jobs, although I would personally use EPH or a three-fourths Persian weave. Alternatively, you could just make it because you like how it looks, but if you think this form looks nice, you should check out the 2-4 version:

4-2 split start

Again, this is the start of the 2-down 4-up form. It's like HP 4-1 in that you go down through one ring, then add a closed ring, then go up through the rest of the rings. However, in this case, the "going up through" part is through four rings instead of 2. Hence the name. The V-shaped cross-section is less pronounced in this form:

4-2 split

However, both of the above chains do have V cross-sections. Remember that traditional HP 4-1 has a rectangular or X-shaped cross-section; can we replicate that in HP 6-1? Obviously, or I wouldn't be talking about it. The 3-down 3-up form of HP 6-1 has the same type of cross-section as HP 4-1, being merely a heck of a lot more dense.

3-3 split start

This is the start of the 3-3 split form. You'd have to go down through two rings, then add a ring, then up through three rings to lengthen the chain. Notice how the closed ring in that step takes the form of a "down" ring. That's just because of the orientation we're using when we weave; if we made it an "up" ring, then we'd also have to reverse the weave (in which case it would be a 3-up 3-down chain instead of a 3-down 3-up chain). In any event, longer chains look a bit like this:

3-3 split

So now you've seen the three versions of HP 6-1 that exist (this is discounting the sheet forms!). However, you can extend this theory to any level of Half-Persian chain. With these techniques, you can make an HP 4-1 with a V-shaped cross-section. You could aos, though I don't know why you'd want to, make 5 different HP 10-1 weaves and string them all together. In any event, now you know. Enjoy!

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All items on this site are copyright 2003 Chris Weisiger (a.k.a. Derakon). That's right - I made everything on this site. Reproduction of any of my work i\ n whole or in part requires my express consent.