Afghan question for knitters

[mme_hardy]

My next big project -- after daughter's afghan, which is now nearly ten years old -- may be a historic afghan pattern by Anne Orr.  It's Tunisian crochet in a worsted-weight yarn (modern equivalent to period "four-fold Germantown").   If I want an afghan I can wash as necessary, throw across couches, throw across laps, lather rinse repeat -- in short, one that will stand up to wear and time, what yarn do you recommend?  This is not a good time for Susie's Heirloom Hand-Dyed Handspun, because the finished product is 57" x 45", give or take gauge. Cheaper is better, but not so cheap as to be itchy or unpleasant to knit  I'm leaning acrylic for durability and washability, but I'm happy to hear what you'd use.   The primary colors are black, grey, and white, with a cross-stitch pattern in tapestry-weight yarn over the top.

Here's a color reproduction from the Dover reprint.   Here's a black-and-white picture of the original afghan, which Katharine Cornell worked on nightly in The Barretts of Wimpole Street.