Mock Croc, Scallop, or Shell-in-the-Yarn

Shell motifs is to crocheters as seed stitches are to knitters: a basic pattern of stitches that creates a small, textured motif in the finished work. They take little advanced knowledge and make the work go quickly. One of the most popular shell motifs today is the overlapping detached shell, also known as the crocodile stitch.


A similarly-scaled effect can be created in either knit or crochet by varying the number of threads we pick up each time we wrap the yarn over the hook or needle. The difference between this and ruching is that with the scallop stitch, we pick up all of the threads from the working edge through the indicated thread for the current wrap, rather than picking up only the thread of the current wrap. As I noted in a previous post, this will create a variable thickness in the working row; crocheters may need to use a larger hook to get the bulk of multiple working threads through the previous work. Conversely, knitters may need to use a smaller needle to manage working the multiple threads.

Single chain, Shell-in-Yarn, Starbella Flash

The basic method of working scallops is to pick up one additional thread on each stitch (or yarn-over) through the embellished edge, then one fewer thread on each stitch (or yarn-over) until only the working edge remains, and repeat.This works fine in a double or treble crochet and a wide mesh, in which the repeat may only take two or three stitches; it's a bit less obvious in knitting, where the repeat could take as many as twenty stitches.

Six rows knit scallop, Starbella Flash

One method of shortening this is to work with multiples of two, three, or more threads on each stitch.

I brought the pattern forward on the sample at right by working 1, 4, 7. all, 7, 4, 1 threads on an every third row pattern over 20 stitches. I brought all the scallops to the front of the work, and straight ruffles to the back, as follows: R1, 2: knit --start pattern-- R3: knit scallop row R4: knit R5: purl R6: purl scallop row R7: purl R8: knit --end pattern-- The scallops aren't precisely counterposed on this sample — I should have worked over 21 stitches to do perfect three-and-a-half pattern repeats: (1, 4, 7, all, 7, 4 for a six-stitch pattern) A deeper scallop might be achieved by skipping one or more spaces between each yarn-over.

6-row scallop stitch pattern

In crochet, scallops can be sent to one side of the work using the ball front/ball back technique discussed in a previous post.