Crocodile Stitch - Knit Version

Sample made with Sapphires-n-Purls Rustic Worsted, G hook

Sample made with Sapphires-n-Purls Rustic Worsted, US size 6 needle

While not an exact match, this knitted version comes fairly close to the crochet version.  I have seen a couple of other knit stitches called crocodile stitch, and this one to me looks to be the closest to the crochet stitch.  I found this stitch on Pinterest, which led me to this video on YouTube. (Video is in French, the translation was a bit helpful, but I had to slow the video down as much as I could and write down each step) She uses a crochet hook to make the scales; in my video/instructions, I show how to make the scales without a crochet hook because I find having to wrangle a crochet hook too fiddly. 

As you can see along the top of my knit sample, there is a row of loops - these come from binding off after Row 8.  I didn't play around with the bind off, but you should be able to avoid these loops by not working any further than the first three rows and then binding off.  I'd say just work Row 1 once more before binding off should do the trick.  Or, you can leave the loops as they make very pretty buttonholes.  If you make a wrap, scarf or cowl that you want buttoned, these loops would be perfect.

Multiple of 8 + 2

Row 1: purl

Row 2: *k1, yo; rep from * to last st, k1

Row 3: *k1, drop yo from previous row

Row 4: p1 *slip next seven sts to right needle, then drape working yarn over right needle in position so that you can pass each of the 7 slipped stitches over it, one at a time; (k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1) into next st; repeat from * to last st, p1

Row 5: purl

Row 6: *k1, yo; rep from * to last st, k1

Row 7: *k1, drop yo from previous row

Row 8: p1 *(k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1) into next st; slip next seven sts to right needle, then drape working yarn over right needle in position so that you can pass each of the 7 slipped stitches over it, one at a time; rep from * to last st, p1

Repeat these 8 rows for the pattern.

Happy Knitting!