Mother of All Gauge Swatches

With a deadline looming-- four hats to finish by Monday-- the last thing a prudent knitter would do is start a 6-color Fair Isle tam in fingering weight yarn. But since I abandoned all prudence with regard to knitting long ago, I could not resist:

I dare only show you a small detail-- the swatch in its full glory is terrible to behold.

If you tally up the hours that I have invested in this swatch, you will understand why I have not finished a single hat this month. The color scheme has undergone numerous changes-- last-minute color substitutions were mail-ordered. This is the big one.

Just thinking about the number of ends I will need to weave in is beginning to give me a slight twitch. Wish me luck!