1952 crocheted ascot cravat

From knitting to crochet! The weather is getting warmer, but the spring days are often chilly. A 'vintage' girl would certainly wear an ascot with her jacket, so today's free pattern is an early 50's ascot cravat. The AWW published this pattern in 1952:

"Ascot cravat, crocheted in fine wool is designed to fit snugly. A brooch or scarf-pin adds a decorative touch."

ascot inspiration:
There are a few patterns out there for a plain, garter stitch knitted version, like these two below, but this one is different because it is crochet and it has a pretty stitch too! The crochet pattern also gives more body to the ascot.

left: a supposedly 1949 knitting pattern from the net
right: Agatha Christie's Miss Marple character wearing the same ascot-type scarf

did you know...
...that an ascot tie, or ascot, is a narrow neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of pale grey patterned silk? This wide, formal tie is usually patterned, folded over, and fastened with a stickpin or tie tack. A cravat is another type of neckband.

material and sizing:
I used a fingering weight acrylic yarn with a metric size 3 hook. The finished width of the ascot with 41 stitches in pattern is 17,5 cm (=about 7 inches)


construction:
The construction of the cravat is simple. You start crocheting from one end of the main (middle) section, then you decrease the amount of stitches for the cross-square, increase again and end with the pointy end. Then join the yarn at the other end of the middle section and finish it in the same way.


I made one piece for the back loop instead of two and sewn it at a slight angle with a little bulk instead of flat, which makes it easier to pull the tail through:


 the stitch:


There is a decorative, but simple stitch used. You alter dc and treble stitches. In the following row you crochet a treble on top of the dc and a dc on top of the treble. This results in a pretty, bobbly pattern, which you wouldn't tell by looking at the original picture:


my scalloped edge:
When decreasing I ended the row with a treble, then turned with 3 chains in the beginning of the row, skipped the first stitch (a dc) and and put a dc in the next stitch (the first treble). This resulted in a pretty scalloped edge:


modifications:
- Adjustments in sizing see above under construction details.
- I crocheted the main part and the 'tails' of the scarf according the instructions. - The instructions for the square where the two parts cross are way off!
The pattern instructs to make a dc in every other stitch, ending with 24 sts. If you start out with 41 sts, you make a stitch in every other stitch you will end up with 21 instead of 24sts.
I tried the 21 but I found the square to be too wide. My second version I reduced the amount of stitches by half once more in a second row, but that turned out to be too small.
My third version which I like consists of 16 stitches. Here is how to do it:

• reduce the amount of stitches by making a dc in every other stitch  starting with 2ch for the first dc (=21sts)
• reduce further evenly in a second row until you have 16 stitches

On the other side of the square you need to increase in the same way, in two rows. Below the original version of the square which I thought was too wide and my version:


abbrevations:
As we all know, crochet abbrevations are different in the US and UK.
The pattern uses the UK abbrevations:
d.c. = double crochet (US: single crochet)
tr. = treble (US: double crochet)
In the pattern you first do a yarn over for the treble and not for the double crochet.

the original pattern: