Snowball Fight

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.