By Theresa (Terry) Albertson I live on Anderson Island, a small 3 miles by 5 miles island in South Puget Sound near the Seattle-Tacoma area. After working nearly 37 years at a large national Retail Department Store in the display/visual merchandising arena, I have retired to my many hobbies, which include caring for a dozen exotic birds, four small-active dogs, and our neighbors-the deer that come to our yard for feed and water, gardening, and of course my number one pastime-knitting. My mom and I learned to knit together when I was just 16. It was a wonderful way to enjoy time together. I don't throw my yarn. I pick, so I am a very fast knitter. I know it as the Continental knitting method. I prefer not to follow patterns. I have found it easier to envision my own ideas, and use my knitting style to produce them. I knit everything from hats-gloves-scarves to Afghans, sweaters and cute little dolls. I have my own basic top-down raglan sleeve sweater pattern knitted on circular needles. I am able to knit almost anything with this pattern. I make a wide variety of dolls, including the iconic raggedy Ann and Andy, as well as making many dolls that look like friends and friend's grandkids. I had seen examples of a new fad that was called yarn-bombing. People were knitting covers for almost anything. It gave me the inspiration to knit a straight-backed chair that I got from the Good-Will store. My first attempt was a sophisticated cover in colors that could be used as living-dining-bed-room decor. Then when I saw what I could actually do, I decided to make one specifically to enter in the Washington State Fair in September of 2013. I decided to make it much more whimsical, sort of in the Wizard of Oz feeling. When I got it completed I worried that with the limited methods of presentation at the fair my chair might not get seen as well as it deserved. So I knitted a little corner table with a checkerboard motif and even knitted little pom-poms for checker pieces. It served as a platform for my chair. When my husband and I arrived at the fair entry area, the ladies were caught a bit off guard. They were not sure how they could show it. They indicated they could not include the table in the judging but that I could use it as a platform for the chair. When the fair opened we still had not heard how my chair had done in the competition. We got to the knitting/quilting area and could not find the chair. My husband found a fair guide who when he asked about the chair she replied, "Oh the Grand Champion! It's over here" and led us to it. I was flabbergasted to learn that my chair was the grand champion of the knitting entries and that I had actually won a monetary prize. What great fun it has been. I used exclusively Red Heart yarn for this project for the color and value. I'm glad I did. I love Red Heart yarn!
