This is a fun crocheted game that comes in its own hot cocoa mug. As the snowballs are meant for children (or adults!) to throw at each other, make them with a soft fluffy yarn (I recommend chenille, but a velvet yarn would do) and stuff them very lightly. This keeps them from bouncing too much and avoids a more uncontrollable chaos. Make a minimum of two snowballs. If you stuff them lightly enough, you should be able to fit up to four in a mug.

I recommend a recycled t-shirt yarn for the mug, but any super chunky material would do here. You could use ribbon yarn or even try a few strands of acrylic held together.

The one material worth sticking strictly to is the polyfill (I use a recycled polyester polyfill) because anything else could change the lightness or softness of the snowballs.

If you give this as a gift, you might want to include a little note telling the kids what it is. They will probably figure it out anyway, but it isn’t instantly obvious. Include a little note that says “Snowball Fight!” or a little card with some game rules on.

To complete this project, you will need to know how to:

• Start a project in the round
• Increase (work two stitches in the same space)
• Decrease (work a stitch across two spaces)
• Create a flat circle
• Do a single crochet
• Do a half double crochet
• Join
• Work in the back loop only
• Chain
• Slip stitch
• Do a front post single crochet
• Finish off
• Weave in ends

Difficulty level: Beginner to Intermediate – pattern uses chain (ch), single crochet (sc), half double crochet (hdc), slip stitch (sl st), working hdc back loop only (hdcblo), increasing (inc), decreasing (dec), doing a front post single crochet (fpsc), and working in the round (rnd). Stitch count is included at the end of the line for each round.

Finished size:

Snowball: Roughly 11.5in/29cm around

Mug: 5in/12.5cm high, 16.5in/42cm around (handle adds another 2in/5cm), 5in/12.5cm across

Materials:

For Snowball:

• Chunky chenille or velvet yarn: I used Paintbox Chenille), .6 oz/20g, roughly 5.25 yds/5m per snowball
• Filling: I use Crafterra Recycled Polyester Craft Filling, 0.15 oz/4g (roughly a handful)
• Crochet hook size 6.0 mm.
• Stitch marker
• Yarn needle for closing snowball and sewing in ends

For Mug:

• T-shirt yarn: I used YarnArt Maccheroni 90% Recycled Cotton, 10% Polyester, 7oz/200g, roughly 46 yds/42 m. You can make the mug in any of the various colors they have available, or use a ribbon yarn or a few strands of worsted held together.
• 6.0 mm hook. This is a small hook for this size yarn, making it a stiff mug, but also hard on your hands and wrists. You can size up if you need to for comfort.

Gauge: Gauge is not important for the snowball. You want it to remain soft and loose — not too tight. For the mug, you should be at about 5in/12.5cm at the end of row 4, but there is space for an inch/few centimetres of difference here. With the size mug I made, I could squish four snowballs in, but it also would work fine for just two or three.