Nice work Luth! Are you fastening the ends of the rings in some way, or just butting them together? Also, having done both knitting and mail-making, yes, the mental relaxation is similar. During the very early years of the New Varangian Guard, I and another founding member used to share an hour and a half late night bus trip once or twice a week (he was the bus conductor, I was on my way home from a late shift at work). At that hour I was often the only passenger, so we would sit up the back of the bus and companionably knit mail for the whole trip. The occasional other passengers would cast quite puzzled looks at the fortyish woman and the long-haired youth knitting mail and arguing amiably about sword technique.