The ropes overhead

The ringing chamber was narrower than I had expected. Above us, ropes crossed beneath dark beams, and their loops hung at uneven heights. To an untrained eye, they made a disorderly web, and I wondered how anyone could choose the right one quickly. The captain did not begin by pulling a rope. Instead, she traced the route of each one upwards, named the bell it moved and showed me the small bands of coloured wool woven near the handles. By the time practice began, the apparent confusion had become a readable system. What first looked accidental now seemed exact.

From the passage, select one word or phrase that conveys the writer's first impression of the ropes and one word or phrase that conveys how this impression changes.