Crocodile Crochet Stitch Pattern

The crocodile crochet stitch portrays crocodile scales in a romantic manner, so different from the tough exterior of the mighty crocodile. This crochet stitch pattern produces a thick, warm cloth perfect for scarves, shawls, wrist-warmers, etc. Its three-dimensional effect produces a beautiful accent on bags, hats, and cowls. Even when used throughout, any FO becomes an elegant piece.

I first saw the crocodile stitch in a scarf pattern on Ravelry. A few days later, I saw of video link posted on Crochet Pattern Central. So I got curious and searched Google, Ravelry, and Etsy for more FO’s and patterns. I also searched YouTube for more videos. I found few free written patterns that are quite difficult to understand (or I just didn’t have the patience to read it thoroughly). Most of the videos are too long as well, my attention just can’t last for a 30+-min or 13+-min video. There’s a 5-min video (floating right) but it only shows two rows, not the 4-row repeat that shows how to create the staggered arrangement of the crocodile stitch.

Because of all these, it seemed to me that the crocodile stitch is some sort of classified information.

After watching the video by CrochetGeek a.k.a. Art of Crochet by Teresa, I decided to do it. The instructions are still vague, especially the beginning and end row. However, I already understood the idea how to form each “scale”.

I tried it on a Saturday night with a 20-in foundation chain. The problem on beginning and ending a row still persists. So I just went to sleep at 11 pm but whenever I wake up, the stitch pattern simulates in my head.

I couldn’t sleep no more. At 5:00 in the morning I woke up, returned to my failed project and worked on it. SUCCESS!

Now I can go back to sleep.

The following Sunday, I felt the need to create an FO using the crocodile stitch and thought a very small purse would be a perfect start. I was having a debate in my mind whether to make a crochet cloth, fold, and stitch to the purse or just work on both sides of the chain and work in rounds. After much mental deliberation, I decided to choose the latter.

At first, I turned at the end of each round but soon realized it’s easier to work without turning. There’s a slight advantage, though – the beginning of odd round moves slowly from the side towards the center because of the staggered arrangement of the crocodile scales. Nevertheless the advantage outweighs the disadvantage – I didn’t have to worry how to end and begin the row making it easier to follow the staggered arrangement.

Check out my crocodile purse here!

There are many variations to this stitch pattern. My version is based on the video by CrochetGeek. Honestly, it was too long I didn’t watch it closely. But I like it because it has subtitles, which means I can watch it silently. I can’t say for certain that this pattern is the same as that of the video but it is very similar. Most videos I’ve watched do not define a formula for the foundation chain – I did.

To clearly understand this stitch, one must have a clear concept of the parts of dc stitch (see Figure 1). Normally, new stitches are worked on top of old stitches. That is not the case for the crocodile stitch. The stitches of the even rows are worked on the posts of the dc’s in odd rows, hiding these rows in the process (see figure 3).

When making a crochet cloth, the crocodile stitch requires the repetition of 4 rows worked back and forth. The odd rows (row1, 3, 5…) contain alternate lone and twin dc’s separated by ch-1’s (see Figure 2). These rows are invisible from the right side and only serve as anchors of the “scales”, which are worked on the even rows (row 2, 4, 6…). On the even rows, 10 dc’s worked on the twin dc’s of odd rows, 5 dc’s for each dc, which are anchored along the posts of the twin dc’s (see Figure 3). The first 5 dc’s are worked from top to base of the first dc, the last 5 dc’s are worked from base to top of the next dc (see Figure 4). The last of the 10 dc’s that forms the “scale” is secured with a sl st on the post of the next lone dc (see Figure 3).

Here is a chart of the crocodile stitch pattern. The odd rows are drawn in black, the even rows are drawn in blue.

Abbreviations:

• ch - chain
• dc - double crochet
• sl st - slip stitch
• sp - space
• sk - skip

Foundation Chain: Ch a multiple of 6+4.

Row 1: Ch 3, 1 dc in the 4^th ch from hook, (ch 1, sk 2 ch, 1 dc in next ch, ch 1, sk 2 ch, 2 dc in next ch) repeat until 3 ch left, ch 1, sk 2 ch, 1 dc in the last ch. (SEE FIGURE 6)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sl st on the post of 1^st lone dc, (5 dc on the post of next dc worked from top to base, 5 dc on the post of next dc worked from base to top, sl st to next lone dc) repeat till last lone dc. 5 dc on the post of next dc worked from top to base, 5 dc on the ch-3 sp worked from base to top, sl st to top of ch-3. (SEE FIGURE 7)

Row 3: Ch 4, turn, (2 dc on lone dc of Row 1, ch 1, 1 dc in the center of the next “scale”, ch 1) repeat towards the last “scale”, 2 dc on the last lone dc. (SEE FIGURE 8)

Row 4: Ch 1, (5 dc on the post of next dc worked from top to base, 5 dc on the post of next dc worked from base to top, sl st to the post of next dc) repeat to end. 3 ch of ch-4 from row 3 serves as last lone dc. (SEE FIGURE 9)

Since Row 1 is anchored on the foundation chain, just anchor the stitches similar to how row 3 is worked.

For me, the crocodile stitch is a revolutionary way of doing crochet for it expands the possibilities in crochet. Right now, I am thinking of ways to create a variation of this stitch pattern. (There’s a myriad of images floating in my mind right now – lacy, solid… sigh.)

I hope this article will encourage you to try this stitch pattern in your next crochet project.