Kidsilk Haze…

Kidsilk Haze or cracksilk haze as knitters affectionately call it.

When I rediscovered my love of knitting. I would love going to John Lewis yarn department and exploring all the yarn. Every trip, Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze would call to me. I loved the colours, the texture and the ply. Back then it was one of the few commercial lace-weight yarns stocked in John Lewis. This, of course, was all before I had a stash. When I was still buying yarn for a set project. Not buying it on a whim.

I remember seeing a photo in the Knitting forum on Livejournal. (Does anyone else remember LJ?) Where someone had made a simple garter stitch shawl. She had used kidsilk haze and larger needles, by adding simple yarn-overs to make a triangle shawl. It looked stunning! However, it was not something I would wear. Later on the same forum. Someone shared a pattern for a scarf with beaded edging, which I knew I would wear!

Kidsilk Haze - Dewberry
Kidsilk Haze – Dewberry

My first proper scarf

I picked dewberry shade as I loved the purple. I already had some purple beads from some bracelets I had made that summer. Following the pattern notes, I used clear nail varnish to make a “needle”  and threaded the beads on to the yarn. This technique was completely new to me and couldn’t wait to cast on.

My first attempt was a disaster. I wasn’t use to knitting with beads, let alone with a “fuzzy” yarn. And as a result, ended up with a lot of errors in the first few rows. Which I could not undo, so it ended up in the bin. Determined I tried again and after a few nights work, I had the most amazing, soft, purple scarf perfect for the upcoming autumn.

It was one of the first knitting pieces that I regularly wore. It would have been in the autumn of 2004 (even before I started this blog). I use to wear it over a grey pea-coat. And I even took it on holiday, when we went to Chicago and it snowed a lot. I always felt proud when wearing it. Not just because I made the scarf but also because the yarn was so luxurious. It was the first time, I had made something that made me feel like a proper knitter.

Kidsilk Haze
Kidsilk Haze

The following year, my love of knitting increased and I started buying more yarn. Mainly, still for projects but slowly on a whim. On my shopping trips, I would always come home with a least one ball of Kidsilk Haze. That year, they expanded the range to include “Spray” and “Night” varieties, which I also added to my new stash. I also embarked on a crazy notion to knit scarves for all my friends and family. And eventually, I made 10 scarves to give away as Christmas gifts.

I still have single balls of the kidsilk haze in my stash. I never seemed to buy enough for a larger garment. But haven’t used this yarn in years. Although I think that might be about to change.

Featured Image from Pixabay.