Have you ever made one of these mini winter hats before? I remember making one as a little kid using variegated yarn and being so impressed with the result! I was thinking about these little hats and it hit me that they’re perfect for a Valentine’s Day pun. If you use chunky yarn like I did here, these come together fairly quickly and are perfect for crafting while listening to a fun podcast or during a family movie night. And did you know – here in Canada, we call these winter hats “toques” but from what I understand, that’s mostly a Canadian term! Whether you call them toques or winter hats or beanies, these are fun to make and will surely put a smile on your Valentine’s face.

• Chunky yarn
• Empty paper towel roll
• Scissors
• String/cord
• Tags (or cardstock to make your own)

Step 1
Cut the paper towel roll into pieces, each about 1″ tall or less. It’s okay if the roll flattens/crushes a bit while you do this – the yarn will cover it up later.

Step 2
Cut 12″ lengths of your chosen yarn. I started with about 20 pieces and then cut more later if needed. The number you need will depend on how chunky your yarn is.

Step 3
Fold a 12″ piece of yarn in half and rest the folded end on top of the outside of the cut paper towel roll. Hold the two tail ends together and wrap them through the paper roll and then through the yarn loop. Pull the two tails tightly and arrange the knot so that it rests right along the bottom edge of the paper roll.

Step 4
Repeat step 3 until the entire paper towel roll is covered with yarn, cutting more yarn pieces if needed.

Step 5
Once the entire roll is covered, push all the tail ends up through the center so that they pop out on the other side. Gather them up so that they’re smooth and you have a nice even edge on the paper roll.

Step 6
Use another piece of string to tie a double knot securely around all the tails so that it looks like a pom pom on top of a winter hat.

Step 7
Use scissors to trim the pom pom.

Step 8 (optional)
If using not very chunky yarn, it can help to add a cotton ball or crumpled up tissue inside the hat to give the hat more shape. I found that the chunky yarn hats didn’t need this though.

Happy crafting!