How to Crochet the Crocodile Stitch: Decreasing in Rounds (SIMPLIFIED!)

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Designer Lianka Azulay from Bonita Patterns shows us how to crochet the crocodile stitch, walking through the steps of decreasing in rounds.

A seasoned crochet artist is able to evenly increase and decrease in rows and rounds in a variety of stitches.

The fun part is the satisfaction earned, seeing hours of work come to fruition in the final product, whether it be for yourself or a gift for a lucky friend.

The crocodile stitch is a favorite of those who like to buy beautiful, interesting crochet wearables without even realizing how much time (and skeins) went into them.

Yes, it is a yarn eater, and yes it’s going to take a bit longer than your typical crochet project. It is also an instant eye-grabber and well worth the effort.

To master this technique, first you should get to know a few special stitches:

dc2tog (Double Crochet Two Stitches Together)

Yarn over, insert hook in stitch indicated, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2 loops, yo, insert in next st, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2 loops, yo, pull through all 3 loops.

fpdc (Front Post Double Crochet)

Yo and insert hook from the front to the back around the post of the dc of previous row. Complete like a regular dc stitch.

sc2tog (Single Crochet Two Stitches Together)

Insert hook in stitch indicated, pull up a loop, yo, pull through both loops.

v-st (V-Stitch)

Work (1 dc, ch 1, 1 dc) in stitch indicated.

Next, always keep in mind that the foundation of each scale is v-stitches. In the round, you need 2 v-sts for every scale, so depending on the number of scales you want to decrease, you decrease the number of v-sts by making a dc2tog in next 2 ch-1 sp. Usually you’ll be decreasing evenly, for hats and shaping garments, but if you need to decrease uneven it’s up to you. The rule still applies.

Here’s the decrease process step-by-step:

Decrease of v-st round:

Dc2tog (Yo, insert hook in ch-1 sp, yo, pull through 2 loops, keep 2 loops on hook, yo,  insert hook in ch-1 sp, yo, pull through 2 loops, keep 3 loops on hook, yo, pull through 3 loops) v-st in the next ch-1 sp, v-st, v-st. Repeat from start for each decrease, join.

Decrease of scale round:

Sl st in first ch-1 sp, sl st in next dc, sl st in next st, start scale (Ch 1, working from top to bottom around post of first dc of first v-st, work 4 fpdc, ch 1, turn work so v-st is sideways and post of second dc of v-st is upside down), working from bottom to top around post of second dc of v-st, work 5 fpdc * skip next v-st, working from top to bottom around post of first dc of next v-st, work 5 fpdc, ch 1, turn work so v-st is sideways, working from bottom to top around post of second dc of v-st, work 5 fpdc -(2 scales)- Sl st to skip to next usable v-st to start next scale. Repeat from start.

Once you’ve got that down, you can crochet booties, hats, mittens, trivets, pot holders, coasters, rugs- the possibilities are endless.

It’s also a lot easier when you have an awesome mentor like Lianka Azulay, the queen of the crocodile stitch, who breaks down her patterns so you can crochet along in her classes on CreativiU.com!

Let us know what crochet challenges you face in the comments section below!

Get this week’s free crochet LED LIGHT glowing hook and classes bundle and learn to read ANY pattern. Click here to learn more now.