Here in the Midwest the hunt is on for morel mushrooms, the prized wild fungus often referred to as the “steak” of mushrooms. It’s been a great spring for them, with my friends and coworkers reporting big scores – so morels have definitely been on my brain lately. I’ve been making these cute crochet versions, with secret pouches in the stem, for many years now and after seeing so many morels this season I decided to come up with a quick tutorial!
These cuties are great for storing things like chapstick, pocket money, lighters, or other trinkets inside the hollow stem. They also make great gifts for the woodland mushroom lover <3
This project is done in freeform crochet style, meaning that I add random increases, decreases, height changes (from single crochet to half-double or double), and bobbles to make the texture gnarly and womply like a real morel. Here in the tutorial I’ll give the basic structure of the pattern and you can freestyle all the rest!
Morel Mushroom Pouch
Materials:
3.75 mm crochet hook
20-50 yds #4 worsted weight yarn in two colors
Scissors and tapestry needle
Stem Instructions:
Begin by making a Magic Ring.
1. 6 single crochet into the ring. Join with a slip stitch to the first sc of the round, pull the ring closed using the yarn tail at the beginning.
2. 2 sc in each stitch around the circle. Join with a sl st.
If you want a slightly wider stem to fit larger objects, you can repeat Rnd 2.
3. Working in the front loop only (FLO), work one stitch in each stitch around. Here you can start to get funky, with random increases, decreases, height changes, etc. This will be with foot of the stem. Join with a slip stitch in the back loop of the first stitch of the round.
4. Working in the free back loops of Rnd 2, crochet around, continuing on in both loops after the first round. Place freeform stitching around, using bobbles, inc, dec, etc to create texture for your stem.
Keep the basic stitch count more or less the same and you continue to crochet around. Crochet in the round for as many rows as you like, until your stem is as tall as you want – but remember that the cap will cover some of the stem, so don’t make it too short! I worked 11 rounds, and the finished product is a little stumpy when the cap is pulled all the way down.
5. Finish the stem by adding the chain loop that the mushroom will hang from – chain 100 or more, then slip stitch on the opposite side of the stem opening. Cut yarn and tie off.
Cap Instructions:
With your darker color, make a magic ring. 6 single crochet into the ring, then pull the ring a little tighter – but not all the way shut, since you will have to fit the chain through later.
1. (Sc in the next st, 2 sc in the next st) 3 times. Do not join, but keep working in the round.
2. Using mixed stitches (sc, hdc, dc, clusters, bobbles, etc) – (crochet in the next 2 sts, 2 crochet in the next st) around
3. Using mixed stitches (crochet in the next 3 sts, 2 crochet in the next st) around
4. Work as many rounds in this manner as you like until your cap is the size you want. Cut yarn and tie off.
With the lighter colored yarn, join to the surface of the cap by inserting the hook as shown. To make the cap textured, you will work single and half-double crochets just on the surface of the cap by inserting the hook from front to back, then back to front, keeping the yarn held on the front.
Work stitches on the surface only, changing direction and zig-zagging back and forth. Work from bottom to top, then back down, then back up, etc. Once the entire cap is covered, cut yarn and tie off. Weave in all ends.
Using your hook, pull the chain loop of the stem through the hole in the top of the cap. Slide the cap down to cover any treasures you can now stow inside!
I’ve made lots of mushroom pouches, in different varieties including amanitas and jack-o-lanterns. The jack-o-lanterns are particularly cute using glow in the dark yarn – and I have a free crochet tutorial for those too!
-MF