Slouchy Market Bag – Crochet Pattern
Requirements Around 200g of DK weight yarn in total - 100g for the the main colour (grey in my pictures) pictures) and 50g each of the two contrast colours I used Sirdar Simply Recycled with a 4mm ho ok. Obviously you can play around with the size of the base, the length of the handles, the height of the bag itself, but this will impact on the amount of yarn you’ll need.
Abbreviations & UK equivalents Abbreviations I have used USA crochet terms mainly because they’re the ones I am more comfortable with these days, bu t I’ve provided the UK equivalents and abb reviations for you.
Special stitch instructions: 2 dc cluster: Yarn over, over, insert hook in stitch indicated on pattern, pull up a loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops (2 loops on hook); yarn over, insert hook in same stitch, pull up a loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops (3 loops on hook); yarn over, draw through 3 loops on hook.
Pattern Start by making the oval shape at the bottom of the bag. It’s worked in a spiral, rather than joining every round , so I cannot stress how important it is to mark the beginning of your round – it is INCREDIBLY easy to lose where you are. If you haven’t made a crochet oval before, but have crocheted circles, just think of an oval as a rectangle with a semi-circles at each end – the way of increasing the semi-circles will be very familiar to you. Ch 40 with main colour A (grey on my bag) Round 1: Skip first ch and make 1 sc in each ch. Now, don’t turn the work in the usual way. Ch 3, then, keeping your work facing you, turn it clockwise through 180 degrees and make 39 sc in the bottom stitch of your chain stitches (it’s fiddly, but you’ll get there!). Ch 3, then join with ss to the first sc you made. This point marks the start of the next round, so place your marker here, and move it up every time you start a round. You should have a row of 39 stitches on either side of your original chain, and a 3 chain space at either end. Round 2: sc 39, 3 sc in 3 ch sp; sc 39, 3 sc in 3 ch sp (84 sc). Now, don’t join the round, just keep going to the ne xt stitch, moving your marker then replacing it the first stitch of round 3. Round 3: sc 39, make 2 sc in each of next 3 sc; sc 39, make 2 sc in each of next 3 sc. (90 sc) Round 4: sc 39 (remember to move that marker after the first sc), *1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *1 sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc, repeat twice from * (96 sc) Round 5: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc, repeat twice from * (102 sc) Round 6: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc, repeat twice from * (108 sc) Round 7: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 4 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 4 sc, repeat twice from * (114 sc) Round 8: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 5 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 5 sc, repeat twice from * (120 sc) Round 9: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 6 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 6 sc, repeat twice from * (126 sc) Round 10: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 7 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 7 sc, repeat twice from * (132 sc) Round 11: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 8 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 8 sc, repeat twice from * (138 sc) Round 12: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 9 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 9 sc, repeat twice from * (144 sc) Round 13: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 10 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 10 sc, repeat twice from * (150 sc) Round 14: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 11 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 11 sc, repeat twice from * (156 sc) Round 15: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 12 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 12 sc, repeat twice from * (162 sc) Round 16: sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 13 sc, repeat twice from *; sc 39, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 13 sc, repeat twice from * (168 sc)
Now to start the lacy pattern – you can get rid of your marker for a while! From now on you will be joining each round rather than working in a spiral. It’s up to you whether you fasten off and restart or just carry your yarn between the stripes. If you do decide to carry the yarn up the work, make sure you don’t pull the yarn too tightly between the rows. Here's a little section of how the s titch pattern works:
Round 17: ch 2, make 1 dc in each sc round, join with ss Round 18: Join colour B (white on my bag) and make sc in same place as ss, *ch3, sk 2 dc, 2 dc cluster, ch 3, sk 2 dc, 1 sc in next dc, repeat from * all round until you are back at the start where you join final 3 ch to top of 1st sc with ss. Round 19: Join colour C (yellow on m y bag), ch 5, *sc in top of 2 dc cluster, ch 2, dc in sc, ch 2, repeat from * all round, until you are back to the start, where you join with ss to ch 3 of the ch 5 that started this round. Round 20: Still with colour C, ch 3, *2 dc in 2 ch sp, 1 dc in next sc, 2dc in 2 ch sp, 1 dc in next dc, repeat this pattern from the * all the wa y round until you are back to the start, join with ss to top of first ch 3. Round 21: Join colour B (white) and make sc in same place as ss, *ch3, sk 2 dc, 2 dc cluster in next dc, ch 3, sk 2 dc, 1 sc in next dc, repeat from * all round until you are back at the start where you join final 3 ch to top of 1st sc with ss. Round 22: Join colour A (grey), ch 5, *sc in top of 2 dc cluster, ch 2, dc in sc, ch 2, repeat from * all round, until you are back to the start, where you join with ss to ch 3 of the ch 5 that started this round. Round 23: Still with colour A, ch 3, 2 dc in 2 ch sp, 1 dc in next sc, 2dc in 2 ch sp, 1 dc in next dc, repeat this pattern all the way round until you are back to the start, join with ss to top of first ch 3. Repeat the pattern of round 18-23, until you reach the end of row 58, which is the final row of the lacy pattern (a colour A (grey) row). We are now going to make a band of 5 rows of sc, working in a spiral.
Round 59: This would normally be a Round 23 style row, but instead of the usual pattern, continuing with colour A, ch 1, 2 sc in 2 ch sp (place marker in 1st of these 2 sc to mark the beginning of the round), sk sc, 2 sc in s ch sp, sk 1 dc, then continue all round and on to round 60 without joining the round and remembering to move your marker. Round 60-63: sc in each sc round. Now on to the shoulder strap – we are getting there! We are going to work in rows rather than rounds from now on. Row 64: sc 26 (you can dump the marker, you wont need it again), ch 1 Row 65: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 20, ch 1 Row 66: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 15, ch 1 (19 sc) Row 67: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 14, ch 1 (18 sc) Row 68: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 13, ch 1 (17 sc) Row 69: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 12, ch 1 (16 sc) Row 70: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 11, ch 1 (15 sc) Row 71: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 10, ch 1 (14sc) Row 72: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 9, ch 1 (13 sc) Row 73: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 8, ch 1 (12 sc) Row 74: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 7, ch 1 (11 sc) Row 75: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 3, decrease 1 sc over next 2 sc, sc 6, ch 1 (10 sc) Row 76: turn, sk 1 ch, sc 10, 1 ch Row 77-85 (9 rows): repeat row 76 Row 86-90 (5 rows): repeat row 76 using colour B Row 91-95 (5 rows): repeat row 76 using colour C Row 96-111 (16 rows): repeat row 76 using colour A Row 111-114 (4 rows): repeat row 76 using colour B Row 115-118 (4 rows): repeat row 76 using colour C Row 119-122 (4 rows): repeat row 76 using colour B Row 123-138 (16 rows): repeat row 76 using colour A Row 139-143 (5 rows): repeat row 76 using colour C Row 144-148 (5 rows): repeat row 76 using colour B Row 149-158 (10 rows): repeat row 76 using colour A Row 159: still using colour A, turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 6 sc, 1 ch (11 sc) Row 160: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 7 sc, 1 ch (12 sc) Row 161: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 8 sc, 1 ch (13 sc) Row 162: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 9 sc, 1 ch (14 sc) Row 163: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 10 sc, 1 ch (15 sc) Row 164: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 11 sc, 1 ch (16 sc) Row 165: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 12 sc, 1 ch (17 sc) Row 166: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 13 sc, 1 ch (18 sc) Row 167: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 14 sc, 1 ch (19 sc) Row 168: turn, sk 1 ch, 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 15 sc, (20 sc) Fasten off, leaving tail, and use the tail to whipstitch shoulder strap to the other side of the bag, using a yarn needle. Here are some instructions on how to do this.
You can stop here if you like, and weave in all your ends. Alternatively you can complete your bag by making a row of single crochet along each side of your bag handle – just crochet into the gaps between the rows. This gives a very neat finish and gives the shoulder strap a bit more firmness. Here’s a video on You Tube to show how this works (she’s working into double crochets but it’s the same principle). Then weave in all your ends and you’re done!
