I am as Mad as a Hatter

Pattern:                Mad Hatter
Designer:             Louisa Harding
Pattern book:      Queen of Hearts
Yarn:                   Zara DK Superwash Extra Fine Merino Wool
Needles:              Size 3 and 5 circular  Addi Turbo needles.

It is only fitting that the very first real post on my blog is about a pattern that gave me more trouble than what it should have. Do not get me wrong, I love the final product and it really was not hard to knit. It was just tiresome. After a while it almost felt like a chore instead of a cool knitting project. But I am sure you guys want to know about the pattern and not read me whine.

The pattern: The pattern is very straight forward and extremely easy to read. The rib row and the start of the chart were written out. The heart pattern was in chart form and that made me really happy. I love it whenever a pattern is charted out, so much easier to follow.

I made the hat in Zara DK superwash. It is one of my favorite inexpensive DK yarns, even though it has it's issues. For example it says it is a superwash but if you put this bad boy in the wash it will felt. So hand washing and flat drying is a must. Another thing that this yarn does is loosen up once you wash it. I do not mind that and is one of the reasons why I love it so much because I am a tight knitter!

Anyway, back to the pattern. This hat took me a week and a half to knit! Now I am not a super fast knitter but I do not consider myself a slow one either. It usually takes me two to three days to knit up a hat. I think it was the amount of cables in this pattern that slowed progress down to a crawl. There are seven cabled hearts in the hat and the rib row has twenty-one cables! Here is a snap shot of some of the cables:

Rib row cables

More cables and the bottom part of the hearts

Another thing about this pattern is that you knit it flat and not in the round. I have noticed that a lot of British hat patterns are this way and I do not understand why. I really do think that the project would have gone a lot faster if it were in the round, since if it were in the round you can see at all times how the pattern is forming up and at the end you do not have to worry about seaming up the project.

At the end of the day it came out very pretty, I got lots of compliments and hat stares when I wore it out. But will I knit this pattern again? HELL NO! There is no way I would put myself through the almost two weeks of hat torture. Would I recommend it to others? Sure, it is pretty, simple to read and if you do not mind knitting it flat and have patience to deal with all the cables, go for it!

Now I am off to figure out what my next project will be. Until next time! 

Happy Knitting, 

Knitting Chica xoxo