Woolworth's knitting advert

Happy, happy knitters from a Woolworth's advert, 1970s. "Strong yarns, wool yarns, nylon yarns. Yarns for babies, grannies, families, Winfield yarns, the best yarns".

The lady with the huge bag of wool seems to be knitting something white and tiny for a baby, whereas granny is creating a huge, stripy blanket. Or maybe it's one of those freeform jumpers for a grandchild that 1970s grans used to excel at. The ones where the sleeves went on for around a third longer than they should have done. The ones that barely fitted over your head.

Bonus points to the photographer for capturing gran's classic Carry On expression, and double bonus points with chocolate topping for taking the picture just as the bus was going past a Woolworth's store.

If you're a fan of 1970s knitwear, keep an eye out for second-hand copies of Woolworth's Knitting Magazine, which is a treasure trove of brightly coloured acrylic knitting and crochet patterns.

1970s crochet flower motif scarf

Here's an autumn crochet project from Woolworths Magazine from the early 1970s. It's a simple fringed crochet scarf which is given a little zip with a super-cute crocheted vintage flower motif. The flower is worked separately, so you could always just make the flower and add it to a scarf, hat or bag of your choice.

To go back to the 1970s, you will need 4 ply wool in main and contrast colours. 3mm and 3.5mm crochet hooks.

Tension: 6 tr = 1 inch in width measured over pattern on 3.5mm hook.

4 ply wool is harder to find these days, so try substituting DK yarn and use a smaller hook.

Using 3.5mm hook and main colour make 51 loose ch.

1st row: Work 1 dc into 2nd ch from hook, 1 dc into each ch to end. 50 dc.
2nd row: 2 ch, work 1 tr into each dc to end.
3rd row: Work 1 dc into each tr to end, working last dc into top of 2 ch at beg of previous row.

Repeat the last 2 rows until scarf measures 80 inches from beginning (or indeed, the length you want - let's go crazy here). Fasten off.

Fringing and edging: Using a 3.5mm hook and main colour, work 1 dc into each dc row and 2 dc into each tr row, work along both long edges of scarf. Using main, cut strands of yarn approx 18 inches in length, fold in half and draw bundle of 3 strands through 1st st at one end of scarf. Draw ends through loop and tighten, forming one tassel. Repeat through every alt st of shorter ends of scarf.

Flower motif: centre of flower: using 3mm hook and main, make 4 ch and join into a ring with a sl st.

1st round: Work 8 dc into ring, sl st to top of 1st dc to join. Do not turn.
2nd round: Work 2 dc into each dc to end, sl st to join.
3rd round: *Work 1 dc into 1st st, 2 dc into next st; rep from * to end, sl st to top of first dc.
4th round: Work 2 dc into first st, *1 dc into each of next 2 dc, 2 dc into next dc; re from * to last 2 dc, 1 dc into each of last 2 dc, sl st to join. 32 dc.
5th round: Work 1 dc into each of next 2 dc, *work 2 dc into next st, 1 dc into each of next 3 sts; rep from * to last 4 sts, 1 dc into each st to end, sl st to join. 40 dc.
6th round: Using contrast yarn work 2 dc into first st, *1 dc into each of next 4 sts, 2 dc into next st; rep from * to last 4 sts, 1 dc into each st to end, sl st to join. 48 dc.
7th round: Using contrast work 1 dc into each of next 2 dc, *work 2 dc into next st, 1 dc into each of next 5 sts; rep from * to last 4 sts, 2 dc into next st, 1 dc into each st to end. 56 dc. Fasten off.

Make another centre the same.

Petals: Using 3mm hook and contrast make 9 ch.

1st round: Work 1 dc into 2nd ch from hook, 1 dc into each of next 6 ch, 3 dc into next ch, continue along other side of ch working 1 dc into each of 6 ch, the 2 dc into last ch.
2nd round: 1 ch, work 2 dc into first st, 1 dc into each of next 7 dc, 3 dc into next st, work 7 dc, 2 dc into next st, work 1 dc.
3rd round: 1 ch, 2 dc into next st, work 9 dc, 3 dc into next st, work 9 dc, 2 dc into next st, work 1 dc.

Continue increasing 4 sts in this way by working 2 more dc between incs, at the same time working in the following colour sequence: 1 round contrast, 2 rounds main, 2 rounds contrast. Fasten off.

Make a total of 12 petals.

To finish: Sew centre of flower to each end of scarf approximately 4 inches up from fringed edges. Sew on 6 petals evenly spaced around centre of flower.