The thing about lace

I've knit two or three things that use a lace pattern - that is they use yarn overs, k2tog and ssk in various combinations to make strategically placed holes in the knitted fabric.

I also make bobbin lace which uses a combination of twists (or lack of) on a couple of threads to achieve various combinations to make strategically placed holes in a piece of fabric.

In both cases I struggle at the beginning - I just can't see what's supposed to be happening - it looks like a mess of yarn/thread and I get frustrated and rip it out and start again, and again and again.

Then something magical happens - suddenly for no reason at all I can see it..........right in front of my eyes it's there - a pattern.  From that point it just gets better and better.

As I knit I understand what the individual stitches are doing and can tell if I'm doing it wrong - my fingers retain the pattern and the lace flows off the needles or bobbins.

That is of course if I'm doing it right - if I'm not it can be frustrating, challenging but somehow it always makes me happy.