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This hat was born from a simple desire: to play with the gorgeous texture and color of La Bien Aimée’s Confetti yarn. I swatched several stitch patterns, trying to find just the right match—something that would complement the yarn’s bouncy 3-ply construction and playful tweedy speckles.

In the end, I came back to an old favorite: plump, sculptural cables, originally featured in one of my earliest published designs, the Winter Sage Sweater. Reimagined here in hat form and worked top-down, this design allows you to customize the fit as you go—making it as satisfying and fun to knit as the Confetti yarn itself.

NOTES
Design & Construction: The Winter Sage Hat is a classic beanie-style design, featuring a cabled stitch pattern and a single-fold folded brim. The hat is knit from the top down, allowing for easy adjustments to length and fit.

Fit: This hat is designed to be worn with 10 to 15% negative ease. To pick the best size for you, measure your head circumference at the fullest point. Multiply this number by your preferred ease and then subtract the result from your head circumference. Make the size with a finished circumference closest to that number.

For instance, to make a hat to fit a 22-in. (56-cm) head with 15% negative ease, multiply 22 in. (56 cm) by 0.15 to get 3.3 in (8.4 cm). This is your negative ease measurement. Subtract this number from 22 in. (56 cm) to get 18.7 in. (47.6 cm). This is your ideal hat circumference. Size 3 has the closest finished circumference to this number, so you would make this size.

Yarn: The yarn estimates provided in this pattern are approximations, calculated to allow for both a sizable swatch and the sweater, with a small margin of error. Your actual yarn usage may vary based on factors such as your personal gauge, the yarn’s character-istics (e.g., fiber content, ply, thickness), and any modifications you make to the pattern.

Stitch Patterns: Written and charted instructions are included for the cabled stitch pattern so you can choose your preferred method of instructions for knitting these sections!

SIZES
(1, 2)(3, 4, 5)
#sizeinclusive

Sized to fit (12 Months, Youth/Adult Small)(Adult Medium, Adult Large, Adult X-Large).

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
The circumference as measured at the widest point of the crown is as follows.
(16, 17.25)(18.75, 21.25, 22.75) in.
(40, 43)(47, 53, 57) cm

This hat is designed to be worn with 10 to 15% negative ease. The sample is shown in Size 3 with 15% negative ease.

YARN
DK weight
(55, 65)(80, 100, 110) g/(140, 165)(200, 250, 275) yds or (130, 150)(185, 230, 250) m

SUGGESTED YARN
La Bien Aimée Confetti (100 g/250 yds (230 m)) – 50% fine Merino, 30% Shetland, 20% La Bien Aimée (LBA) thread

(1, 1)(1, 1, 2) skeins

The sample hat is knit in the colorway Gris Ephémère.

NEEDLES
Needle A (body): US 6 (4 mm)
Needle B (ribbing): US 5 (3.75 mm)

You will need 32 in. (80 cm) circular needles to work in the round using the magic loop method, or your preferred needles for smaller circumference knitting, such as short circular or double-pointed needles.

GAUGE
Measure gauge knit in the round, after blocking.

26 sts and 32 rows = 4 in. (10 cm) in cable stitch pattern

SKILLS TO USE (OR LEARN!)
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Center cast-on of choice (i.e., disappearing loop, i-cord belly button, or Emily Ocker’s cast-on)
Top-down hat construction
Knitting in the round
Cable knitting
Chart reading
1x1 ribbing
Jeny’s bind-off (modified)

Perfect for knitters looking for a classic cabled hat with nature-inspired, mountain vibes.