It’d help if we could see a link to the pattern, or even the finished hat.
It sounds like they are giving you a choice of either continuing the cable pattern, or stopping the cables and switching to stockinette stitch. However, even if you want to continue the cable pattern, you wouldn’t do the cable crossing (C4F) on every row!
I agree with Marilyn’s interpretation of the pattern you posted. If I were knitting the pattern, I’d switch to stockinette, only because matching the cables as you decrease could get math-intensive. Even though I work with numbers all day long, I’m not up for that kind of mathematical gymnastics when it comes to knitting.