I think you described the same issue happening to you right before Kuttabo did his review of the mod. The parachutes begin deployed (both in VAB build and in the launch environment). It is only the radial Aggregat parachutes that are affected; the other parachutes work just fine.
Game version is 1.10.1.2939
Mod version is WernhersOldBits 0.19.2
I checked specifically to make sure I don't have RealChute installed. I don't think I have any mods that should be conflicting, but I'll include a full mod list to see if you or anyone knows what might be conflicting.