Sugar ’n Spice Afghan (1952): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Super fine (#1) 3-ply baby yarn, held double throughout. Two strands of fingering-weight yarn behave roughly like a light (#3) yarn.
• Colours (baby-wool option): 15 oz White, 2¼ oz each Nile Green and Baby Blue, 1½ oz each Baby Pink and Maize.
• Original hook: Clark's O.N.T. plastic crochet hook No. 5.
• Tapestry needle for sewing motifs.
• Hook: Start with 4 mm (US G-6) and change size to match the gauge.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

rnd

round

rep

repeat

BLO

back loop only

Notes before you start

• Source: "Sugar ’n Spice" (C-123), Afghans (Afghan Book No. 289), The Spool Cotton Company, 1952. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: CHADWICK’S RED HEART BABY WOOL, 3 Ply, Shrink-and-Stretch Resist Finish, Art. E.275: 20 skeins (¾ oz. “Tangle-Proof” Pull-Out Skeins) of No. 1 White; 3 skeins each of No. 679 Nile Green, No. 802 Baby Blue and 2 skeins each of No. 723 Baby Pink and No. 261 Maize; or; CHADWICK’S RED HEART NYLON, 3 Ply, Shrink-and-Moth Proof, Art. E.260: 15 skeins (1 oz. “Tangle-Proof” Pull-Out Skeins) of No. 1 White and 2 skeins each of No. 679 Nile Green, No. 802 Baby Blue, No. 723 Baby Pink and No. 261 Maize.; Clark’s O.N.T. Plastic Crochet Hook No. 5.; Use yarn double throughout.. Gauge: Each motif measures 3½ inches square..
• 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: Printed counts (59 colour motifs, 58 white motifs, 13 motifs per row) are kept from the original.
• Modernisation note: The Blue, Pink and Maize motifs are worked as the Green motif with that colour in place of Nile Green; the original implies this without saying it.
• Modernisation note: Yarn weight (#1, held double) and the ~100 yd/oz basis are our estimates for a 3-ply baby yarn of the period.
• 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.

Colour motif

1. Starting at center with Nile Green, ch 2.
2. Rnd 1: 8 sc in 2nd ch from hook, drop loop from hook. Hereafter work in back loop only.
3. Rnd 2: Leaving Green loop free, join White to first sc, sc in same place, *3 sc in next sc, sc in next sc. Rep from * around, ending with 3 sc in last Green sc, drop White.
4. Rnd 3: Pick up Green loop and, leaving White loop free, sc in each sc around, making 3 sc in center sc of each 3-sc group, drop Green.
5. Rnd 4: Pick up White and repeat last rnd.
6. Rnds 5, 6 and 7: Work as for last rnd, alternating colors, ending with a Green rnd. Join and fasten off.
7. Make 17 more Green Motifs, 17 Blue and 12 each of Pink and Maize (59 color motifs).