Checkerboard Bike Rack

Checkerboard Bike Rack near Adler Planetarium

The alien bike rack I put up for my dad's birthday last year is gone - it was fading, but the birds and squirrels really tore up the bright colors - so I worked for a few weeks on something I've wanted to do on a bike rack for a long time - checkerboard!!

Installing

All you need is (A) two contrasting yarn colors, (B) some colorwork skills in crochet, and (C) patience. This takes a while.

The basic idea is:

Row 1: 4 DCs in color 1, 4 DCs in color 2

Row 2: Stack colors on top of same colors as Row 1.

Row 3: Switch up colors so that the opposite colors are on top of each other.

Row 4: Stack colors on top of same colors as Row 3.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until you are done!

Bike racks are about 7.5 inches around, so I did a long sleeve. It was tedious work, but it's definitely not anything you need to concentrate on too hard (i.e., you can still talk to others, watch TV, etc.).

I used black Caron worsted weight yarn, combined with a slow color changing cake (also Caron) so that the checkers change slowly from green, turquoise, and purple. If I do one of these again (which I probably will), I would do neon colors with an even greater contrast so you can really see the fade.

Find this one at the end of the long drive out to the Adler Planeterium, right by the bus stop.

View of the city

After we installed it, Dave and I took a walk around Northerly Island; they're really filling in some of the walking / biking trails, and it's really cool. Someone on the South Loop Facebook page saw a beaver here the other day, and we saw a coyote eating...well...something. Bird? Rat? Who knows the diet of a city coyote.

View of city from Northerly Island

If you make it, tag me on Instagram at @valerieplz!