Want to be part of an elite group who has achieved the title of “Master Knitter”? Then the TKGA Master knitting program may be for you. Join fewer than 1000 women from across the United States who have graduated from the Knitting Guild of America’s Master Knitting Program©. This is a three part series of correspondence courses. It is a non-competitive and rewarding achievement program for advanced knitters. Although you will work hard to earn the coveted Master Knitter title and pin, you will hopefully enjoy how much you will learn.

In this program, you are required to knit samples swatches using different knitting techniques from written instructions, prepare a notebook of  questions you are to answer and independent research you will need to report on and document about knitting. These are then submitted to the Master Knitting Committee at TKGA in Zanesville, Ohio, who review everything based on an established set of criteria. Portions may be returned for rework according to constructive suggestions for improvement.

There are three levels to the Master Knitting program and you must successfully complete each Masters Level course before enrolling in the next one. You must complete each level in order. It is not required that you complete all three levels and you are recognized for each one completed with a certificate. The final course is recognized with a Master Knitter pin.

The Master Knitting program has three possible venues: Hand Knitting, Machine Knitting or Passap Machine Knitting. The instructions come with a full bibliography of reference material. For assistance, you can post questions on the TKGA message board/ masters forum for help and clarification, and the members-only section of the TKGA website has an online archive of Cast On magazine which runs a series of articles called “On Your Way to the Masters” with useful information and tips.

In addition our own Gro Coxe will be offering a Masters Support Group which will meet the first Monday of each month at 6:30pm at THE DAILY GRIND, 2595 Sandy Plains Road in Marietta. You can contact Gro for more information at (770)928-5920, or email her at gcoxe@bellsouth.net.

The cost for Hand Knitting Level I is $90, Level II is $95 and Level III is $100 and you must be a member of TKGA. More information, including a list of class activities for each level can be found by downloading the TKGA Course catalog from

http://www.tkga.com/resources/TKGA_CATALOG_ColorWeb10.pdf

Not quite ready for the Masters Class? A good introduction to TKGA classes and a way to hone your basic knitting skills is “Basics, Basics, Basics” which will be reviewed in next month’s newsletter.