Fuzzy Wuzzy

In its former life this pile of Kid Silk Haze aspired to be an elegant stole. It had been frogged a couple of times, and with frustration, so that the mohair started to bloom on its own. Said fuzzy pile was relegated to the bottom of the yarn bin for about 6 months, while I moved on to other things. Like designing with lace. Like learning to knit lace with something other than fuzz. Like learning to knit from charts. Like learning how patterns work.

So after some deliberation I decided to return to KSH. I had found a good project, you know what it is, Polly's Kiri, and it used the yarn. Polly was even considerate enough to specify how much shawl you'd end up with after each ball. Approximately 2 balls would yield a big enough shawl (you must know I'm petite by now). I liked that. But the KSH. Sooo fine! And sooo fuzzy! How was I going to make it behave?

Turns out, I didn't have to do anything! Having cut my teeth on the Flower Basket Shawl, working with fine yarn, learning how each pattern section worked with another, helped me when it came to figuring out Kiri. Now I know why Stephanie calls it Crack. It's good stuff, let me tell ya. And I know I'm using the correct needle size, because they're big and comfortable, but not clunky. (That's another thing, finding the correct needle size to go with fine yarn to achieve an open, airy, lacy effect.) If I was to offer any beginning lace knitter some advice on KSH, it would be this: find a fingering yarn and knit something lacy with that first, and if you don't know charts, learn to read them. Then try KSH. Trust me on that.

So Fuzzy Wuzzy here is pictured after its fourth pattern repeat. According to Polly, 2 balls of yarn should yield 8 pattern repeats. But the question begs, is there enough yarn to knit the edging? Or should I go with 7 pattern repeats and then the edging? I guess I'll know when I get to it. Lifelines, baby, lifelines.

PS: I just read Julia's entry on KSH. And mountain biking. You must know they're related, right?

PPS: Want to see some great flash work? Click here, and hold your mouse down to navigate once the picture comes up.

PPPS: Another great (design) link: The USA Smart Car website (gotta love those cars) has a nav similar to design company Evolution Bureau's. However, it was created by H20Media in Germany.