Rainbow Drip Cake Beanie Free Crochet Pattern

I had one goal with this beanie: make a hat that looks like it belongs in a bakery window but keeps your head toasty warm! Rainbow stripes, white frosting drips that actually look like dripping icing, and a sprinkle-covered crown — all worked in simple single crochet for a dense, cozy fabric.

We start with a stretchy ribbed brim worked flat in rows and seamed into a tube, then pick up stitches and work the body in joined rounds through the rainbow stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. After the body, we add the frosting drips with surface slip stitches and chain loops, shape the crown, scatter French knot sprinkles, and finish with a big fluffy white pom-pom.

The finished hat is an adult Medium/Large, about 19 inches around unstretched and stretching to fit 21 to 22 inches, and about 9 inches tall with the brim folded up. Plan for roughly 6 to 9 hours, including the pom-pom and sprinkles.

Materials

• 180 yards worsted weight yarn in white (main color)
• 25 yards worsted weight yarn in red
• 20 yards worsted weight yarn in orange
• 20 yards worsted weight yarn in yellow
• 20 yards worsted weight yarn in green
• 20 yards worsted weight yarn in blue
• 20 yards worsted weight yarn in purple
• Small amounts (under 5 yards each) of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple for the sprinkle embroidery
• 6.0mm crochet hook (US J)
• At least 4 stitch markers
• Yarn needle and embroidery needle
• Scissors
• Pom-pom maker or two cardboard circles, approximately 3.5 inches (9cm) in diameter

Abbreviations

• ch: chain
• sc: single crochet
• sc2tog: single crochet two together
• sl st: slip stitch
• BLO: back loop only
• sss: surface slip stitch
• st/sts: stitch / stitches
• RS: right side

Special Stitches

• Ribbed Single Crochet: work sc in BLO only throughout the brim. Leaving the front loops unworked pushes them forward into visible ridges and creates the stretchy, knit-look ribbing.
• Surface Slip Stitch (sss): do not turn the work. Hold the yarn behind the fabric on the wrong side, insert your hook from the front through a stitch, catch the yarn from behind, and pull a loop through to the front. Insert the hook through the next stitch, catch the yarn, and pull through both the fabric and the loop on your hook. The result is a neat raised line on the surface.
• Drip Loop: while working a surface slip stitch row, at each drip position work ch 5, sl st back into the same stitch the chain emerged from, then continue the surface slip stitch line to the next drip position.
• French Knot: thread an embroidery needle with about 8 inches (20cm) of yarn, bring it up through the fabric from the wrong side, wrap the yarn around the needle two times, insert the needle back into the fabric very close to (but not in) the entry point while holding the wraps against the fabric, and pull through so the wraps form a small raised knot on the surface.
• Pom-Pom: wrap white yarn around a pom-pom maker or two cardboard circles (about 3.5 inches / 9cm) approximately 150 to 200 times, cut around the circumference, tie securely with a long strand at the center, and trim into a neat sphere about 3 inches (7.5cm) across, leaving two long tails for attaching.

Gauge & Size

• Finished size: adult Medium/Large; circumference about 19 inches (48cm) unstretched, stretching to fit 21 to 22 inches (53 to 56cm); height about 9 inches (23cm) with brim folded, 11 inches (28cm) unfolded
• Gauge: 16 sc and 18 rows = 4 inches (10cm) worked in rows, blocked
• Construction: ribbed brim worked flat and seamed, body worked in joined rounds, drips added as surface slip stitch rows, crown decreased in joined rounds
• Skill level: Intermediate

Brim Pattern

Using white (main color) and the 6.0mm hook, chain 19.

Row 1 (RS): Sc in second ch from hook and in each ch across. Turn. (18 sc)

Row 2: Ch 1, sc in BLO of each st across. Turn. (18 sc)

Repeat Row 2 until the brim measures approximately 21 inches (53cm) from the beginning, unstretched. This will be approximately 84 rows total. Count your rows as you go and stop when the piece measures correctly.

Do not fasten off yet for the seam: fold the brim so the short ends meet, sl st through corresponding stitches of both ends to seam the brim into a tube, then fasten off and weave in ends. Your seamed brim tube should measure approximately 21 inches (53cm) around and approximately 4 inches (10cm) wide.

Hat Body Pattern

With RS facing, join white to the brim tube along one long edge and pick up stitches evenly around the entire long edge. Work 80 sc evenly around the top edge of the brim tube — about 1 sc for every row, skipping every 4th or 5th row as needed to arrive at exactly 80 stitches. Join with sl st to the first sc. (80 sc)

From here, work in joined rounds: join with sl st to the first sc, ch 1 (does not count as a stitch), and begin the next round. Place a stitch marker in the first stitch and change colors on the last pull-through of the joining sl st of the previous round.

Rounds 1 and 2 (white): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 3 to 5 (red): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 6 to 8 (orange): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 9 to 11 (yellow): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 12 to 14 (green): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 15 to 17 (blue): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 18 to 20 (purple): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

Rounds 21 to 23 (white): Sc in each st around. Join. (80 sc each round)

After Round 23 the hat body, not including the brim, should measure approximately 5 inches (12.7cm) tall.

Frosting Drips Pattern

Using white, add a surface slip stitch drip row along the top edge of each color stripe. Join white with a sl st to the top edge of the completed stripe, then work 4 sss, work 1 drip loop (ch 5, sl st into the same st), and repeat around. With 80 stitches per round, this places 16 drip loops evenly around each drip row. Fasten off and weave in ends after each drip row.

Drip Row 1: along the top edge of the red stripe, between Round 5 and Round 6.

Drip Row 2: along the top edge of the orange stripe, between Round 8 and Round 9.

Drip Row 3: along the top edge of the yellow stripe, between Round 11 and Round 12.

Drip Row 4: along the top edge of the green stripe, between Round 14 and Round 15.

Drip Row 5: along the top edge of the blue stripe, between Round 17 and Round 18.

Drip Row 6: along the top edge of the purple stripe, between Round 20 and Round 21.

All six drip rows should be applied, with the white drip loops hanging downward over the top edge of each stripe. Check that the chain loops are consistent in length as you go.

Crown Pattern

Continue with white in joined rounds.

Round 24: (Sc in next 8 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (72 sc)

Round 25: Sc in each st around. Join. (72 sc)

Round 26: (Sc in next 7 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (64 sc)

Round 27: Sc in each st around. Join. (64 sc)

Round 28: (Sc in next 6 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (56 sc)

Round 29: Sc in each st around. Join. (56 sc)

Round 30: (Sc in next 5 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (48 sc)

Round 31: Sc in each st around. Join. (48 sc)

Round 32: (Sc in next 4 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (40 sc)

Round 33: (Sc in next 3 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (32 sc)

Round 34: (Sc in next 2 sts, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (24 sc)

Round 35: (Sc in next st, sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (16 sc)

Round 36: (Sc2tog) repeat 8 times. Join. (8 sc)

Fasten off, leaving a tail of approximately 10 inches (25cm). Thread the tail onto a yarn needle and, working from the outside, pass the needle through the front loop of each of the 8 remaining stitches in sequence. Pull firmly to cinch the crown closed, pass the needle through the center opening to the wrong side, and weave in securely. The crown should be fully closed with no gap at the top.

Finishing & Assembly

For the sprinkles, use your embroidery needle and short lengths of each sprinkle color to scatter French knots across the white crown section (Rounds 21 to 23) and across the upper portion of the white frosting area. Aim for 30 to 50 knots total, distributed in all six rainbow colors in a random pattern, and weave in the tails from the French knots on the wrong side.

Make one large white pom-pom, about 3 inches (7.5cm) in diameter. Thread the two long center tails onto a yarn needle, insert the needle into the center of the closed crown from the outside, pull both tails through to the wrong side, and tie them securely together in a double knot on the inside. Trim the tails to approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) so the pom-pom sits firmly and does not flop.

Wet block the brim lightly by dampening it with cool water and gently shaping it, stretching gently to encourage elasticity, and dry it flat. The hat body does not need aggressive blocking; a gentle steam from about 2 inches above the fabric can even out the color-change rows. Weave in all remaining ends on the wrong side, splitting the yarn tails in two directions for extra security.

Tips

For a smaller hat (child large / adult small, about 19 to 20 inch head), reduce the brim to approximately 56 rows, pick up 72 stitches instead of 80, and adjust the crown decreases to work over 9 stitches at a time initially.

For a larger or slouchy fit, work the brim to 90 rows, pick up 88 stitches, and add one extra plain round between each crown decrease round.

Keep your drip loop chains a consistent length — that even rhythm is what makes the frosting look real.

Machine wash cold on a gentle cycle, inside out to protect the drips and pom-pom, and lay flat to dry. If you used wool yarn, hand wash only in cool water.