16-year-old Li Hairuo from Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, wears her self-made chain armor in this photo published on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. [Photo: Modern Express]

In a popular martial arts romance story - "The Eagle Shooting Heroes", its heroine Huang Rong had a 'Ruan Wei Jia', a knife-proof sweater that can protect her against swords. But today, a middle-school girl from Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province, has almost finished a similar sweater she designed herself, the Modern Express reports.

The miraculous sweater, weighing more than ten kilograms, is made up of interlocking stainless-steel rings.

A cold steel lover, 16-year-old Li Hairuo started knitting the sweater three years ago, when she read an online post about chain armors widely used by crusaders during the middle ages.

However, the post did not offer details on production procedures of such chain armors but only differences between some at different times. Li had to explore the technique herself by reading books on cold steel in middle ages.

After spending time experimenting with materials, Li chose a type of stainless-steel which was of the required size and durability.

She says the knitting process was painstaking. With no blueprint or guidance, Li had to completely dismantle the rings after finding mistakes. Juggling her time between the sweater and her school work, it took her three years to finish.

Li did not replicate traditional chain armors which usually include a waist coat and headgear. She made improvements to her own design. Two specially designed gloves were added that can protect her hands without affecting her finger movement.

Chain armors were first used in China during the Period of Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589 AD), according to a netizen nicknamed 'Empire of Lily', another cold steel lover. She said, the spaces between the rings could block arrow heads and protect against knife attacks.

Similar sweaters, which were alleged to be knife-proof, were showed up in Beijing last year at an exhibition of safety production and protection products. These were made of metal rings. (Northeast web)