welcome back to all free crochet calm for more free patterns and ideas please check out da free crochet calm I'm your host Michael salad known as Mikey from the crochet crowd gonna be teaching you how to do the crocodile stitch and today we're going to be working with the Lion Brand amazing yarn line and this is the project that we're going to go for so let's get started I want to show you some inside tips and being able to start this project so that you can maintain the crocodile scales in an even manner so let's get started on this tutorial when starting with this project we want to keep everything in groups of six some people say to do three but if you get the wrong count in three you're gonna end up with a scale so you'll end up with like this and this one will be missing and then you'll have it coming in like this so what happens is that you don't have balance on both sides so we need to keep this in groups of six because there's three sit just between here and here here and here and here in here so together by keeping them grouped it's a six you'll end up with an even number on the one row and then odd even odd even so now let's get started today we're using a size J crochet hook today using the Lion Brand amazing yarn this is called Glacier Bay this color and today is gonna be amazing day teaching how to do the crocodile station like a turkey I've already switched my yarn out without even telling you I'm going to be using instead of that I'm gonna be using a mono low I and this is still amazing and look at these colors so now let's get started again a size J hook we're gonna start off with a slipknot we just wrapped it around my finger twice back of your hand forward take the back over the forward take the new back one up and over and insert your hook so as I told you we need to keep everything in groups of six so this never counts as one so one two three four five and six so there's one group one two three four five and six that's a second one two three four five and six so if you wanted to do any further projects any other kind of like just keep it in groups sex and just keep counting like that as you go so if you wanted to do an Afghan you know a baby throw you know something for the living room just keep on going so this is where we want to start off right down here at the bottom so I want you just to pinch it down there right here and I want you to chain up three so one two and three now where your pinching is going to be your first stitch and I just want you to double crochet so wrapping going in and we need to always make sure on this project that two double crochets always work together the chain obviously counts as one in the rules of crochet so we actually have two there I now want you to chain two one and two and I want you to skip two on the path down here so one two we're skipping going to the third and I want you to put two double crochets into that third it's easier if I guess kind of put my finger over top here and just guide it in that way so just guiding end so this fingers holding it so it doesn't rotate around it's kind of harder to do with if you don't do that and then double crochet is normal and again I'm just kind of holding it you just have to do it for the beginning line to do that so you want to put two double crochets and this is actually going to be the center of your scales this is one Center this is another so it's now chain two one two again skipping over to at the bottom going to the third again holding it and we're gonna put two double crochets in there as well so let's try that again I'm just kind of holding it on the hook and the reason why this is happening is because when you chain like you are jumping stitches especially in the beginning that chain tends to wrap around the hook incorrectly so two double crochets into that okay let's make sure the yarn is not tangled and chaining two one two so are you starting to see the pattern here you're going to skip two in the bottom again I'm going to hold that and go to the third one over for two double crochets okay again chain 2 1 & 2 and skipping to the third one I'm going to hold it okay and I want to skip again one and two going to third so hopefully you're seeing the pattern because you can do this all the way along and then the final is going to be on the very end so one and two and we make sure that we put two double crochets and on the very end as well because we always have to have two double crochets working together and I'll show you why that is in just a few seconds so it was one and two so that is the foundation line to get everything started and this is where we are so this is what it's going to look like kind of like a train track and I'm going to show you what we're going to do next so stay with me just for a second so by keeping it in groups of six what's going to happen now is that there's going to be a scale here in the end we're gonna skip one another scale here skip one another scale here skip one and then there's gonna be another scale on the outside so that means that it's going to be in balance and when you look at it there should be an odd number so one two three four five six seven in order to make that possible so let's just rotate this in our hand let's turn it and you can see how I've just turned it I've kind of turned it in a weird way but I want you to see it here I want you to chain three so one two and three and the crocodile stitch is not about working on the top of this layer it's actually about working on these posts that are in between this is the foundation so coming in wrapping okay and we want to come in from this post so you just want to turn the material so that it's easiest to exit our access and we're going to double crochet into the post only and we're going to do that four times the chaining of three counts as one so an actual fact is technically five if you're being very technical today just to stabilize my yarn off-camera here so we've just got that so we just did our four I want to chain one and now I want to turn this around okay and we want to get this other one now that's in front we're working our way toward this so this is how we started so we've actually come down the post and now we're going to come up the other side so this is how it works we're with crocodile stitch we go down one post we go up the other and then we go down and we go up the other so now let's go up the other side so we're going to rap and we want to come in from the post from this side going toward the center of the scale and we and I'm just going to pinch it like this so it's all together so I don't have to really think much about it so I pinch it so it's kind of like up in the air and we want to double crochet five times love these colors so now that we're got our five in there scales actually technically done we just have to chain one and you can just fold it back towards you you can see that it's starting to take shape so the next one in behind is right here but we're going to skip that okay that is for the ones that are in the center for the next row up so we're going to skip that and just immediately jump over so let's wrap our material and immediately double crochet into the next section there and again we're going to do five so we're just going 5 into the post and we're working our way down toward the bottom of the scale so it takes five double crochets to go down once here on the bottom you chain one so it's chain one we're going to turn it and we're now going to grab the next post that you see right here and we're going to chain up and we're gonna sorry double crochet up five top the other side okay that was four and five and now I want to chain one so every time you at the top you need to chain one okay so there's the next scale done you see how amazing that's turning out whoops I just lost my chain one let me make sure I get that back in so we like before we want to skip the next one here this is where we just work we want to skip this one and immediately go and start making the next scale so if you think that you've mastered the crocodile stitch so far I'm going down with five double crochets while I'm talking to you is that there's two lines of crocodile stitching there's this line and then there's the foundation line which we're going to do next and the foundation line is where everything is basically operating on so in order to do the scale you have to have your foundation in first so now down at the bottom chain one turn and let's get the next one it's right beside it and we're gonna double crochet up along the post five man I love this yarn I've only ever seen it online so to have this yarn is amazing so now we're done and we want to chain one and immediately we're going to jump over to the final here that we have so it's the final because you're skipping over one so we're going to jump over to the first one of the group of two double crocheting down five and we're actually on the edge now coming up so that's four and five so we're down at the bottom now chain one and let's flip it you got to make sure you be very careful here where your project is working okay so just got to be very careful you're getting the right stitches so that one it was kind of twisting okay so we want to make sure we actually understand that we're not twisting up that chain so we're going to crochet no up five I know that sounds kind of confusing but when you're first starting on it this chain loves to twist around because of the way that you operating on the post so you just gotta be a little careful about that so now we've just now chained up okay and now what I need you to do is that I need you to slip stitch so we're just going to come into the center this is where it's coming down so we're actually on the very end okay we're going to come down and we're just going to go right into the Center for a slip stitch so just grab the material through and through and that'll complete the line so this is the back side of your your crocodile stitch and this is the front side so now we're going to work our way up the next level and we need to create the foundation first and then fill in the the stitches are the scales that are in between each one of these so let's do that next now moving up the layers that's actually really simple they're really simple every time you're in the middle of a scale you're going to put two double crochets here see you higher you have two here you want to put two double crochets in there as well so the middle two middle two so let's let's try this so let's immediately chain up three so one two and three and like we did when we first started how there's and groups of two we need to maintain that so we need to double crochet again right into the and one there so there's your group of two we immediately need to chain two like we did in the very beginning and then we have to come down in between these two here now you'll notice that they're not together because they're two different lines but I want you to sandwich it I want you to double crochet go in between that right there and through the front underneath of where the scales are joining together okay and I want you to double crochet two x so again into the same spot so what's what what that's doing now is that it's trapping the scale now to the other line that you see underneath it's it's holding it together so now it's chained to one and two we're going to go immediately to the middle of this of the scale for two double crochets and then we're going to chain two one and two okay and so we're back again in the group of two so just go down in between and then go make sure on this side that you're putting the scale above it so that it's trapping it into position got to make sure you double crochet when you do that you can kind of feel that around with your finger so if you're a good crochet you can probably feel that back there words okay and now chain two one and two so you can see this line is a no-brainer the other lines really a no-brainer either it's just a matter gentle work okay and so we only have we have two more left so one and two and we want to reach in between again and making sure that the layer is on the top of the hook we're going to put two in there and then chain two one and two and then finally the last two are going to go right into the center of the final scale there's nowhere to go other than there so one and two so hopefully you've seen that see how you've just maintained exactly how you start it before and the reason why I can't see the one under before because it's been buried in the scale and now we're going to work on the next level going up finally let's turn this again and now we're ready to make the scales that are in between the other two scales so how we start immediately as we just chain one and we reach to this one over here we just totally leave this alone and we reach and we go into the first one only from the side okay we don't ever go in through the top when we're doing these scales and just bend the material so it's easier to and just pinch it so it's easier to work with you're going to want to do five double crochets going down and if you remember what you got to do at the bottom you just got a chain one so we chain one and now we're just going to turn this material and we're going to get the next one that's right besotted sit there and we're gonna come in from this side so that the hook is going toward the center of the scale and we're going to chain up we're going to double crochet up five two three four and five and so like before you remember what we did when we got to the top we chained one and this time we're reaching over to here so we're bypassing this scale here and we're reaching and we're just coming into this to the post on the side and again five double crochets so the way that this scarf is working that I got if you want to follow the exact thing that I'm doing right now is that every other line every ever the line there's four scales on one and three on the next so it's not a lot of work involved so you got going five I'm gonna chain one at the bottom you're gonna just turn it and do the other post that's directly beside it again making sure you're going toward the center of the scale anymore chain or a double crocheting up five I don't know to understand what I'm saying chaining up 5mm I'm doubling up five okay we've got our five in so now that we're back at the top look at the accenting of that isn't that just gorgeous so chaining one and now I want to reach again I want to bypass this one and reach okay and we're doing the very last scale already for this particular line so there's only three scales on this line so we're double crocheting five going down okay we are chaining one at the bottom turning it and we're going to get the next one going up and we're going to double crochet up five okay and now we're going to chain one because that's what we're supposed to do when we get to the top and this time instead of just continuing to go all we just need to do now is that we need to slip stitch okay so we just need to slip stitch it to the to the middle of the section here okay just slip it just lip it okay just slip it in like that and what that does is how holds the scale to the end now and now we're ready to turn and move up another level so it's now turn your material and again this is like we've already done so you're going to notice always in one direction we're always putting the foundation and then when we're coming back we're always doing the scales so we're now right in between the scales because that's where or in between the post remember everything is in groups of two so we're now just going to chain up three so one two and three we're gonna put another one right in between okay it's do you see how it's in between the they're right in between okay we're now going to chain two one and two the next one is the scale so we're going to go right in between the scale okay we're gonna chain to the next one is just like we've seen before double crocheting going in and we make sure that the other side that it's on top of the hook so that traps it and stabilizes that into position okay chaining two one and two and then we're right in between the scale again okay I'm chaining two and now we're right in between again okay making sure that the back is on top and if your season crochet as I mentioned before you can probably feel that around with your fingers and you can actually probably physically see it as well one in two okay so we're in between the middle of the scale there and make sure you're being it paying attention see where this one is this is what you're matching so if you stopped here you're gonna end up going on a triangle so you got to make sure you do get that final one you're putting two double crochets in so don't forget that and that would complete that line so it again very simple process so now let's turn it I'm going to show you again one more time and we'll call this tutorial quits for today so we're right on the very end so we're just going to chain up three so one two and three and we're now doing the scales because the foundation row is already in place and we wrap and we come in from the first one from the side and again you just want to turn your material so it's easier easiest to access and that chaining of three counts as one double crochets so therefore the first one that we'll only get for going down the post and we're chaining one at the bottom and then we're just turning the material and we're getting the other side so wrapping we're going into the post on the other side and we're chain our double pushing up five on this post that's three four and five and hour at the tops and then once we're at the top we're going to chain one and now I want you to skip over this one because we're now working in between and we're going to go to this one over here and we're just gonna immediately double crochet over so just coming into the post on the side and again it's a five going down chain one at the bottom five going up I'm almost remembering that like it's an elevator going down five going back up five so chaining one at the bottom we're gonna turn it and we're gonna get the other side wow this yarns gorgeous mm-hmm I love this yarn I said that before I love this yarn did I mention I love this yarn I love this yarn mm-hmm they got three four and five we're gonna now chain one okay and we're gonna skip over to the middle skip over this one going over there just to the side of the post again so if you're finishing this project a project where would you finish it you would neither finish it and do it on a foundation rule if whenever you're finished and ready to finish this project you'll finish it right on this particular line okay so you'll always finish it when you're finishing up the scales because that foundation roll will stick up out of your project as you can imagine so you don't want that so we're chained to one at the bottom and now we're ready to come up the other side for five double crochets okay and then we're going to chain one and then finally at the end you can tell that we have the end because if you're looking at it now you can see how the scales are now starting to really come into position you got to get this final one there so we're going to reach over and we just got two more posts to go so we just got to do your five going down so it's actually a really simple process um it's been something I've been kind of avoiding to learning and then I finally just got a hang of it and I can actually really like this stitch to be honest with you I didn't think I would but I do and I didn't think I would because I thought it might have been too complicated for me and I'm a very visual learner so I thought you know that's just gonna be too tough but I like the Catherine Wheel stitches my favorite so this makes sense that this is a another favorite of mine coming up so I come up now five and we are now finished but in order to be finished I have to make sure that I just slip stitch so I'm just gonna come into the center and slip just like that and so you're now ready to move up so that's how you do the crocodile stitch so if I was to be done this project this is where I would finish never finish on a foundation rope and look at this isn't that amazing you're gonna have the most amazing scarf ever and again we're using the Lion Brand yarn and this is called amazing by Lion Brand and it really truly looks amazing especially because the colors are just accenting each other and it's really quite great be half of all free crochet I'm your host Michael salic joining joining you today and I please join me on the crochet crowd calm or all free crochet calm for more free patterns and ideas until next time we'll see you