Square Dance Shawl Afghan (1951): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Fine (#2) sport yarn for Scarlet and Sand; the original lists sport, sock, and sock-and-sweater yarns or nylon as alternatives.
• Rayon crochet thread ("Star" Rayon Crochet) for Buttercup, Black and Red: 5 balls Buttercup, 2 balls Black, 2 balls Red. The ball size is not printed.
• Colours (yarn): 12 oz Scarlet, 2 oz Sand.
• Original hook: plastic crochet hook No. 4 or F.
• Hook: Start with 3.75 mm (US F-5) and change size to match the gauge.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

dc

double crochet

sc

single crochet

cl

cluster

yo

yarn over

sk

skip

st

stitch

sts

stitches

rnd

round

rep

repeat

Notes before you start

• Source: "Shawl Afghan", Beautiful, Beautiful Afghans (Star Book No. 82), American Thread Company, 1951. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: AMERICAN THREAD COMPANY “DAWN” BRAEBURN SPORT YARN, Article W 74; or; “DAWN” ANTI-SHRINK, ANTI-MATTING SOCK YARN, Article W 9; or; “DAWN” SOCK & SWEATER YARN, Article W 64; or; “DAWN” PERMANENT “CRIMP SET” NYLON, Article N 6; 32 ozs. Scarlet or Red for Afghan. 12 ozs. for Shawl.; 6 ozs. Sand for Afghan. 2 ozs. for Shawl.; and; “STAR” RAYON CROCHET, Article 700; 13 balls Buttercup for Afghan, 5 balls for Shawl.; 2 balls Black for Afghan, 2 balls for Shawl.; 5 balls Red for Afghan, 2 balls for Shawl.; Plastic crochet hook No, 4 or F.. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: The original is written in US terms; abbreviations were updated to modern style (s c → sc, d c → dc, tr c → tr, s d c → hdc). "Row" is written as "Rnd" where the work is in rounds.
• Modernisation note: "Cut yarn" is written as "fasten off"; "attach" is written as "join"; "yarn over" as "yo"; "skip" as "sk".
• Modernisation note: "Join in 3rd st of ch" is written as "join in 3rd ch of ch"; "ch 2 loop" and "ch 3 loop" are written as "ch-2 loop" and "ch-3 loop".
• Modernisation note: "Repeat last row 3 times" is written as rnds 4–6 and "work same as 3rd row" (13th to 16th) as rnds 13–16, following the printed numbering.
• Modernisation note: Printed stitch counts (22 dc, 54 dc and 43 cluster sts on each side) are kept from the original.
• Modernisation note: Check: the original does not say which colour is used for rnds 28–29, 31–32 and 41–43 beyond the colour joined at the start of each group; work each group in the colour last joined unless the photograph shows otherwise.
• Modernisation note: Check: rnd 27 and rnd 45 say "Join Red"/"Join Black" but refer to rnd 7, which itself joins Buttercup; the colour named in the later round is the one to use.
• Modernisation note: The rayon crochet thread ("Star" Rayon Crochet) is used for the Buttercup, Black and Red rounds; Scarlet and Sand are the sport-weight yarn. This reading follows the materials list, which gives Scarlet and Sand in ounces and Buttercup, Black and Red in balls.
• 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.
• Modernisation note: The original says only "Work 1st 74 rows same as square dance afghan"; rnds 1–46 are copied here from that pattern, and "Rnds 47–74: Repeat rnds 19–46 once" is our arithmetic from the afghan's own repeat.