The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-05-06
SEATTLE CLAIMS
 HAVING CHAMP
 KNITTER THERE

Puget Sound country, and the Se- attle chapter now claims to have unearthed the real. simon-pure arti- ole Mrs. Anna NJ. Holmes. chair man of Auxiliaries of the Seattle chapter, says:
 Knowing of a woman in one of our auxiliaries who is an exceedingly swift knitter, I asked her to come to the Seattle chapter to knit a pair Of socks under test. This she did, being under constant observa- tion, and her record for one pair of socks was four hours and thirty seven minutes"
 recent issue of the Seattle Times commenting on this record has the following to say:
 Socks Knit While You Wait
 This sign might be hung on the doorway of the home of Mrs. Anna Helen at 161O Eleventh avenue.
 For should soldier go to see Mrs. Hellen at l o'clock in the af- ternoon with his toes through his hosiery, he might leave at 6 o'clock with his feet firmly shod in socks she had knit during his visit. Mrs. Helen is the champion knitter of the northwest according to the Seattle Red Cross. By actual time she knit pair of socks last week in 4 hours and 37 minutes. taking hours and IS minutes on one sock and one minute longer on the other sock. The usual time for knitting a pair of socks varies from two days to two weeks.
 When Mrs. Helen came in to Seattle headquarters one day last week and said she could knit a regu- lation eleven-inch sock in ? 1-2 hours, the knitting department officers were ! inclined to be skeptical They said | Missouri was their home state, so they urged Mrs. Hellen to bring her yarn and needles to headquarters and allow them to hold a stop watch on her.
 i From the moment that Mrs. Hell len brought her needles and ball of yarn from the depths of her knit ting bag to the time when she proudly held up her finished sock was exactly 2:1S 1-2 flat. The ac- tual knitting time was only hours and IS minutes, for they had al lowed her one-half minute interval in the knitting to walk across the room and cool her hands in water.
 Mrs. Helen was then taken out to lunch by the jubilant officers of the auxiliary department, who felt that they had a champion. Thirty five minutes were consumed at lunch, and Mrs. Hellen was back at her seat ready to start her second sock. While she knit she was once more allowed half minute to cool her hands in water, and she completed her sock in 2 hours and 19 minutes. Mrs. Helen explains the extra min ute spent on the second sock by her aching shoulder. Her hands do not weary knitting, she says, but often her shoulders ger to aching.
 Mrs. Helen says that she learned to knit when she was a little girl 6 years old, and has never forgotten the art She only started knitting socks for the Red Cross in January, and since that time she has complet- ed thirty-five pairs, finishing about eight pairs every two weeks. She often has knit pair of socks a day, but other days, on account of household duties, she never touches her needles.
 "Bellingham has been claiming the championship knitter of the north west in Mrs Palmer White. who made pair of socks in 6 hours and 32 minutes. Mrs. Hellen's record is only lacking five minutes of being two hours better.
 Mrs. Helen knits with the Ger man Congregational auxiliary and sometimes meets with the women of the Elks' lodge to do war work. The socks which Mrs. Helen knit are perfect in every detail, and are the regulation No. II socks, knit on the No. 3 needles recommended by the Red Cross.
 Women who watched her fingers flying in the yarn were unable tc tell which style knitting Mrs. Heller was using, so fast were her fingers moving. Mrs. Hellen says that she knits holding the yarn in the Jeff hand and picking it."
 The above may be record ir knitting in the Spirit City. but many residents of Interior Alaska are o the opinion that Chatanika boast: a knitter who can equal this record if not exceed it. Not long ago ths knitter in question had occasion tt come to Fairbanks, and to while away the time brought her knittins with her. Eyewitnesses state tha knitting was started on a pair O. socks just as the train was pulling