Knitting Surprises

One of the coolest things about knitting are the unexpected things that happen in the course of the development of a pattern. I'm currently knitting Odessa, by Grumperina, and one of hte things that surprised me in the pattern was the yarn overs. In a warm hat yarn overs are not a really desirable feature, and I wondered why they were necessary. Now, after I've knit about 20 rows I'm finally seeing the point: the yarn overs are almost invisible, but the section of knitting right before each yarn over stands at a different angle from the section right after the yarn over. These are what produce the two different spirals of the pattern.

No matter how much I think I've figured out knitting surprises like this keep jumping out at me. I hope they don't stop. =)