Here is a picture of one of my knitting students, Ann, in her shawl that she started in July and finished for a wedding this past weekend. This is her first shawl, her first lace knitting project, and her first knitting of any kind at all in a very long time. Didn't she do a beautiful job? The day was lovely, Ann is lovely, and the Feather and Fan shawl is lovely.

Here I have messed the picture up a bit with photoshop which makes the colors and Ann look worse, but you can see the detail of the knitted lace more easily. Try to combine both pictures in your mind.