God, I love this hobby

Could I even begin to call this thing called knitting a hobby??

I reached one of those 'Knitting Nirvana' moments yesterday when I started my Rowan linen top. I haven't done much in the way of lace patterns in my knitting career (which, grant you, hasn't been terribly long either!), and so I find that I hold my breath for the first ten rows or so, praying to the Knitting Goddess that I've got it right - I'm not yet proficient enough to be able to 'read' all stitches as I go - and so, when that moment arrives when I end that row, spread the knitting flat across the needle and look back on my work...

It is... just... MAGIC when it all looks the way it should.

I can exhale, and as I do so, a smile creeps across my face and I take a few seconds just to pat myself on the back and say quietly "Hey, I can do this!"

And then I centre myself again, and remind myself that I need to keep focusing (one thing I am really learning with lace knitting is to bloody well focus on each step, each stitch of the pattern - carefully!) and I get back to what I'm doing.

This is just another of those moments that keep the enthusiasm up, that remind you just how worthwhile all the ripping back, dropped stitches and muttered swearwords are, in the end.