I have been vegetarian for as long as I can remember. I was pretty young when I decided that meat was just not something I wanted to eat. The story goes that my mum who is a fantastic cook, made roast pork one day and the texture made me feel so sick, from that moment on meat was off my menu.
Vegetarian options when I was a kid were not great – particularly for a kid who was not just a vegetarian but a fussy one. Give me a plate of sprouts, swede and cabbage and I was in heaven, but onions, peppers, mushrooms, eggs, meat substitutes and fish – not a chance!
My mum would make me tasty vegetarian versions of the meals she was preparing for the rest of the family, Faux shepherds pie with baked beans, sweetcorn and mash with melted cheese on top. Chicken a la king without the chicken, vegetable stews and pasta primavera. A particular favourite of mine was a bean dish my Uncle Will made me (I sadly haven’t got the recipe hint hint!)
A good veggie burger alluded me – due entirely to my fussiness, so you can imagine my delight at 38 discovering a burger that was not only vegetarian but also had none of those pesky meat substitutes or vegetables I don’t like in it.
I was taken out for a meal by Mr Anonymouses family to my local American style diner, Route 66 in Axminster (if you are ever passing through I highly recommend popping in if only for the milkshakes!). I was feeling a little adventurous which is unusual for me and ordered their butternut squash, beetroot and goats cheese burger – it was amazing!
One cannot eat out every night of the week so I searched for a recipe I could make at home and found this one from CookingisMessy and if I say so myself the resulting burger was yummy!
They freeze beautifully and taste divine.
With my new found appreciation for burgers I embarked on a bit of a crocheted burger frenzy. Given the relatively less known aesthetic of the beetroot and squash burger I went with the iconic Cheeseburger.
My first foray into crocheted cheeseburgers was with a pair of fingerless gloves.
This was only a few months into my crochet odyssey so looking back they could most definitely do with some refining.
A hat, tissue box cover and cushion cover swiftly followed. ( I am particularly proud of the cushion cover as it was the first time I had added a zip to my crochet work)
I had just finished my gold crocodile stitch bag and was sorting out some more of my yarn stash when I came across a ball of mariners dk in ‘taupe’. – the colour reminded me of a toasted burger bun. With previous burger based projects in mind and bags being where I am at crochet wise right now, a cheeseburger bag was the only way to go.
To make it you will need:
Yarn – I used mariners dk in taupe, stylecraft special dk in dark brown, meadow, sunshine, lipstick, parchment and cream. Feel free to use whatever dk yarns you have in similar colours.
3mm hook,
stitch marker
Yarn needle, scissors
Abbreviations: (american terms are used)
hdc = half double crochet
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
ss = slip stitch
ch = chain
blo = back loops only
flo = front loops only
sctog = single crochet together (you can find video tutorial on this stitch here)
Pattern.
Base of bag
With taupe colour ch 43
hdc into the third chain from hook (counts as two hdc) hdc in each chain across, place 3 hdc into the last stitch, place a stitch marker in the second of your three hdc. (do not turn) working along the other side of the chain hdc in each stitch across including the last stitch. You should end up with a piece that has 3 hdc at one end and 2 hdc and a ch2 at the other. ss into the top of the ch2 to close.
Ch1 (does not count as stitch) then hdc 3 times into the top of the ch2, hdc and place 3 hdc into the stitch you marked in the previous round then hdc in each remaining stitch around, ss into the top of your first hdc to close the round.
Body of bag.
r1 – 10 – ch1 (does not count as stitch) hdc around, ss to close
change to red yarn
r11 – ch1 (does not count as stitch) hdc around, ss to close
change to brown yarn
r12 – 20 – ch 1 (does not count as stitch) hdc around, ss to close
change to yellow yarn
r21 – ch1 (does not count as stitch) hdc around, ss to close
change to green yarn
r22 ch1 (does not count as stitch) hdc around ss to close
r 23a – in the round you will be crocheting into the back loops only. (picture for illustration)
ch1 (does not count as stitch) sc 2 in each of the back loops only of each stitch around – ss into first sc to close, ch 1
working in both loops of the green – sc twice in each stitch around and ss to close – you should now have a frilly green bit that sticks out from the body of the bag.
Change to taupe yarn
rd 23b – ch1 (does not count as stitch) in the unworked loops of round 23, hdc around and ss to close
rd 24 – 38 – ch1 (does not count as stitch and hdc around ss to close.
turn work right side out
Cheese: Make 2
Leaving a long tail for attaching to bag (about 30 cm) with yellow yarn ch 15,
r1 – sc in second chain from hook and in in each chain across, ch1 and turn (14 stitches)
r2 – sctog the next two stitches, sc in next 10 stitches and sctog the remaining two stitches ch1 and turn (12 stitches)
r3 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 and turn (12 stitches)
r4 – sctog next two stitches, sc in next 8 stitches, sctog remaining two stitches, ch1 and turn (10 stitches)
r5 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 and turn (10 stitches)
r6 – sctog next two stitches, sc in next 6 stitches, sctog remaining two stitches, ch1 and turn (8 stitches)
r7 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 and turn (8 stitches)
r8 – sctog next two stitches, sc in next 4 stitches, sctog remaining two stitches, ch1 and turn (6 stitches)
r9 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 and turn (6 stitches)
r10 – sctog next two stitches, sc in next 2 stitches, sctog remaining two stitches, ch1 and turn (4 stitches)
r11 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 and turn (4 stitches)
r12 – sctog first two stitches, sctog remaining two stitches, ch1 and turn (2 stitches)
r13 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 and turn (2 stitches)
r14 – sctog the two stitches, ch 1 turn (1 stitch)
r15 – sc into stitch then sc evenly around the piece, placing two sc at each corner, ss to close.
Sew your ‘cheese’ triangles to your bag using the tail under the ‘lettuce’
Tomato slice: make 2
With red yarn
into a magic ring place 6 sc (do not pull closed)
ch 5 (counts as dc and ch2) dc into next stitch, ch2, dc into next stitch, ch2, dc into next stitch, ch2, dc into next stitch, ch2 dc into next stitch, ch2 and dc into last stitch,
ch1 and sc into each ch space and stitch around, in the top of the chain 5 place two sc, continue to sc evenly across the top of you piece, sc over the top of the tail left from the magic ring, ss to close leaving a tail long enough to use to attach to the bag. Gently pull the tail of your magic ring to tighten into a semi circle shape if needed and weave in the end.
Sew to bag under the ‘lettuce’
Onion slice: make 2
With cream yarn ch9, sc into second chain from hook and in each chain across (8 stitches)
ch12 and slip stitch into the last stitch. ch1 and turn. working over the chains place 2sc, 2hdc, 4dc, 2hdc, 2sc and ss to close. leave a tail to attach to bag.
Sew to bag under the ‘lettuce’
Strap:
With taupe ch7,
r1 – sc into second chain from hook and in each stitch across, ch1 turn, (6 stitches)
r2 – sc in each stitch across, ch1 turn (6 stitches)
repeat round 2 until strap reaches the length you require.
sc around the strap piece evenly placing 2 sc in each of the corners.
ss to close
Sew strap to bag.
Take a long piece of your parchment coloured yarn and embroider on ‘sesame seeds’ to the top part of your bag. It doesn’t matter too much about the inside of the bag as it will be covered by the lining. Make sure your stitches are not too tight.
Weave in any ends
Line your bag with fabric of your choice – a fantastic tutorial from craftsy on how to line a crochet bag can be found here
You should end up with something that looks like this 🙂
anonymouse x
anonymousecrafts 