adding the red links shown in stages 2 and 3 of the figure. Continue this pattern of expansion until a reasonable sized oblong is obtained. This oblong can then be used as a starter piece to build into the item you require. It is extremely important that mail hangs correctly. If mail is hung incorrectly the links spread apart defeating the purpose of the armour. The diagram to the right shows how mail consists of rows of links (the arrows show the rows and the way the links in a given row lie). For mail to hang correctly the rows must be horizontal . All the surviving pieces of mail I know of are constructed in this way. If you see a coat of mail with rows that appear to hang vertically, it's probably made of knitted string! (This can otherwise look quite effective, but from what I can remember about the Robin Hood series on British TV, the actor playing Guisborne had to be cut out of his mail when it shrank after a muddy pond fight.) Like any other garment mail has to be tailored to fit the body. There are two ways to do this. The first is to change the link size; larger links being used to expand a piece and smaller to contract it. This method is however of limited use, being practical only where small changes in size are required such as tapering the diameter of sleeves. The second method is to simply create