Checkerboard Game Carpet

Have a picnic!  Play checkers!  Play chess!  Make up your own game!  It can all be done with this Checkerboard Game Carpet!  Using recycled tees, this easy carpet can serve mulitple purposes.  You can even make checker pieces with ease that you can store right with your mat.  This is a great project for a family get together or a day spent at the park or the beach!

Materials:

• Recycled T-shirt Yarn, made from used t-shirts, or remnants of cotton-tricot fabric
• Off-White: approximately 8.8 pounds, cut to 1 inch wide strips
• Light Blue: approximately 8.8 pounds, cut to 1 inch wide strips
• Pink: approximately .5 pound, cut to 0.5 inch wide strips
• Purple: approximately .5 pound, cut to 0.5 inch wide strips
• US #19/15 mm knitting needles
• US #L/8 mm crochet hook

Gauge:  6.25 sts and 12.5 rows = 4 inches. Exact gauge is not important in this project.
Pattern Notes:  Carpet is worked in 4 panels that are joined in the end. This is due to the size and weight of the knitted item.
 

Instructions:
CARPET PANEL (make 4)

1. With knitting needles and MC, cast on 9 sts, change to CC and cast on 9 more sts on the same needle, using the intarsia technique work as follows:
    
2. Game OnRow 1 (RS): K9 with CC, k9 with MC, changing yarn at back of work.
    
3. Row 2: K9 with MC, k9 with CC, changing yarn at back of work.
    
4. Rows 3-18: Repeat Rows 1 and 2, 8 times at end of last row, break both yarns.
    
5. Row 19: K9 with MC, k9 with CC, changing yarn at back of work.
    
6. Row 20: K9 with CC, k9 with MC, changing yarn at back of work.
    
7. Rows 21-36: Repeat Rows 19 and 20, 8 times; at end of last row, break both yarns.
    
8. Repeat Rows 1-36, 6 times. This will complete the panel, which consists of 2 columns and 8 rows of colored squares.
    
9. Bind off all sts knitwise.

Game OnTOKENS (circles)

1. Using crochet hook and slim yarn (pink), ch 7; join with slip st in first ch to form a ring.
    
2. Rnd 1: Ch 4 (counts as dc and ch 1), [dc in ring, ch 1] 11 times; join with slip st third ch of beg ch 4; fasten off.
    
3. Crochet 12 Tokens in each color for the checkers game, and a few more just in case
   
   
    

FINISHING

1. Turn work to wrong side
    
2. Weave in all ends.
    
3. Lay the panels next to one another , cut 3 pieces of t-shirt yarn, each about 90 inches long, using the crochet hook join the panels one to the other with the "corset join" method.
    
4. "CORSET JOIN"
   
   
    
5. Game OnLay the panels with WS facing you, take the scrap yarn and use a crochet hook to weave the yarn through the back loops that are closest to the side of each panel, crossing the yarn from one side to the other - this is very similar to lacing a corset, after several inches pull the yarn (as you would pull the lace of the corset) to make the join tight and continue with this method to the end. Tie firmly at the end.
    
6. Please Note: If you would like to wash the carpet in the washing machine, you can easily unravel the Corset Join, wash, then rejoin the panels together.