Autumn Chevron Afghan (1952): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Worsted (#4) yarn. Chadwick's Red Heart Knitting Worsted, 4 ply, was a worsted-weight yarn; substitute any worsted yarn that matches the gauge.
• Colours: 12 oz each Lt. Yellow, Yellow and Tangerine; 12 oz Mid Orange (36 × ⅓ oz balls); 10 oz Wood Brown; 8 oz White.
• Original hook: Clark's O.N.T. plastic crochet hook No. 6.
• Tapestry needle for sewing strips.
• Hook: Start with 5 mm (US H-8) and change size to match the gauge.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

yo

yarn over

dec

decrease

rep

repeat

sk

skip

st

stitch

sts

stitches

Notes before you start

• Source: "Autumn Chevron" (C-121), Afghans (Afghan Book No. 289), The Spool Cotton Company, 1952. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: CHADWICK’S RED HEART KNITTING WORSTED, 4 Ply, Art. E.232: 12 skeins (1 oz. “Tangle-Proof” Pull-Out Skeins) each of No. 229 Lt. Yellow, No. 230 Yellow and No. 253 Tangerine: 10 skeins of No. 360 Wood Brown and 8 skeins of No. 1 White; and; CHADWICK’S RED HEART KNITTING WORSTED, 4 Ply, Art. E.245: 36 balls (⅓ oz. balls) each of No. 243 Mid Orange.; Clark’s O.N.T. Plastic Crochet Hook No. 6.. Gauge: Each chevron measures 1½ inches across; 3 sc-rows make 1 inch..
• Modernisation note: Round and row labels ("1st rnd", "2nd row") are written as "Rnd 1", "Row 2"; "half dc" is written as "hdc"; "thread over" and "yarn over" as "yo"; "skip" as "sk"; "repeat" as "rep" where abbreviated.
• Modernisation note: "Break off" is written as "fasten off"; "attach" is written as "join".
• Modernisation note: "3rd to 20th rows incl" is written as "Rows 3–20".
• Modernisation note: Check: rows 1–20 begin with Wood Brown, so 10 complete stripe patterns would end on Tangerine; "ending with a Wood Brown stripe" suggests 2 extra Wood Brown rows at the end. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: The strip count ("Make 4 more strips", 5 in all) is printed; the heading "make 5" is our summary of it.
• Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs were split into one step per row, round or sentence; no stitches were added, removed or reordered.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions, the modern hook suggestion and the yardage estimate were added; they are not in the original.
• Modernisation note: Hook numbers from this period were not standardised to millimetres; the starting size given is a modern equivalent, and the gauge is what matters.

Strip (make 5)

1. Starting at lower edge with Wood Brown, ch 60.
2. Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 3 ch, *3 sc in next ch, sc in next 3 ch, (insert hook in next ch, draw loop through) 3 times; yo and draw through all loops on hook (2 sc decreased), sc in next 3 ch. Rep from * across, ending with sc in last 4 ch. Ch 1, turn.
3. Hereafter pick up back loop of each sc.
4. Row 2: Dec 1 sc — to dec 1 sc, work off 2 sc as 1 sc — *sc in next 3 sc, 3 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc, dec 2 sc. Rep from * across, decreasing 1 sc over last 2 sc. Fasten off Wood Brown. Join Tangerine. Ch 1, turn.
5. Rows 3–20: Repeat row 2, working 2 rows each of Tangerine, Mid Orange, Yellow, Lt. Yellow, White, Lt. Yellow, Yellow, Mid Orange and Tangerine. These 20 rows form the stripe pattern.
6. Work in stripe pattern until 10 stripe patterns in all have been completed, ending with a Wood Brown stripe. Fasten off.
7. Make 4 more strips the same way.