Dragon Scale Blanket Part 1

Hey, guys! So, one of my favorite hobbies is crocheting. I've made stuffed animals, blankets, and a lot of scarves. It's so relaxing to sit back and just work slowly on a project, and it's so cool, too. I get to see a a blanket appear out of what used to be just a ball of yarn. If it didn't happen so slowly, I'd say it was magical.

My newest project is turning out to be the biggest and most time consuming one I have ever done. At least, it feels like it. I'm using what's known as the crocodile stitch, or the dragon scale stitch, to make an entire blanket.

This is actually serving as a stash buster for me. I've had so many projects that either didn't use as much yarn as I bought or projects that I gave up on. All this leftover yarn has been sitting around, so I decided to put it into a cool blanket.  That means that I'll have several colors in this blanket. So far I'm up to two: white and blue. I have several other colors including purple to get through.

The size I'm aiming for is to cover a double bed. I figure I'll need about 70 rows of scales, which means it will probably take me about 70 hours all together. It's quite the time consuming blanket.

So, the crocodile stitch. Once you have done a few scales, it's actually very simple. You only need to know how to do two things: chain and double crochet. At the very beginning of this blanket, you would start by chaining as long as you need for the blanket. This string of chains should be a multiple of 10 + 1. Your next step will be to create the structure for you scales to cling onto. Make two double crochets in the same stitch five chains from your hook. Chain two, skip two chains, double crochet two in one stitch, skip two chains. Repeat this process to the end of your first row. On a row that already has scales under it, this is what it will look like:

The single double crochet (on the right) lines up with the center of each scale and the pair of double crochets (left) lines up between each scale. Now to create a scale on this foundation, you will be using the pair of double crochets. Basically what you're doing is crocheting down the post of one double crochet and up the next.

So, in this picture I have my finger between the two double crochets and I've yarned over. The next step is to insert my hook where my finger is and do five double crochets around that post.

Here's after I've finished those five double crochets. Next, turn your project or yourself so that you can insert your hook in the back of the other post, making five more double crochets. The stitches will make a half circle when finished, looking exactly like a scale.

Next, slip stitch into the top of the single double crochet so that your scale is anchored onto the foundation.

And now you're ready to continue with your next scale! You can see why this takes an hour per row though-- you have to basically make two rows in order to get one row of scales. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's easy to go on auto-pilot.

If you're interested in a more detailed pattern for crocodile stitch, Red Heart has a good one on their website. Let me know if you're interested in a Crocheting 101 sort of post series. 

I will update on how this blanket is going as it progresses. I'll probably update whenever I finish a color. So, when I finish the blue section, you'll see this blanket again!