I practiced tonight! When I'm carrying the NikNak (by its top bar) out to the field, it always seems like it's wanting to float/fly behind me, so I practiced walking in little circles and sort of swinging it, on short lines, to get a feel for how it wants to fly or glide. I managed to actually FLY it for almost half a circle around me, and made a nice landing, as opposed to a crash! Boy, this kite is built like a tank - it has taken many nose dives and bounces and still looks like it just came out of the bag.
I learned a bit more about its handle, so short or not, it was a good outing. I bought a pair of finger straps - do y'all have different straps on each set of lines? I'm still practicing with my cheap lines, and I cut my finger just about every time handling the string barehanded.
Thanks to everyone for your help.