This is a cute kit. I started by hand winding each one of the 21 skeins and then taping the yarn used to tie the skeins on the cards.
I am glad I did the cast on suggested in the pattern. I was surprised that you start with a non-stretchy cabled cast on, but it all makes sense when you wear the hat. It sits nicely on my (small?) head; not too loose.
After that it was easy sailing with the knitting except that I am not looking forward to sewing in all those yarn ends.
Following the pattern exactly I ran into a bit of trouble just before the crown shaping.
I don’t consider myself a loose knitter and am knitting to gauge, leaving shorter tails than recommended ( 3” instead of 5”, but cannot get more than 4 full rows maximum from each mini skein. I found myself to be short of “Spring Ice” on round 51. I solved it by knitting round 50 in “Spring Ice” and 51 in “Grey Harbor”. I can already see that I will run into trouble with the “ Rusted Roof”, too. I already used it for two single rounds and am supposed to use it for three rounds before starting the crown decreases. I knit two rounds in “ Rusted Roof” and one round in “Pressed Grapes”. Other than that I stuck to the suggested colors.