TKGA Basic Course Plans for 2009

Good Morning Friends and Fellow Knitters:

My daughter and I are interested in going through the Basic Course for TKGA (The Knitter's Guild of America). I am committed to continuing on through the Master’s Courses. This is our game plan:

If you are not a member of TKGA sign up as soon as possible. It's a simple process and not terribly expensive. For the price of a magazine subscription you get the TKGA quarterly magazine and membership.

Then, in January, request the Basic Knitters Course from TKGA, there is a charge for this program and the fees are available on the TKGA website.

Beginning the first week in February we will begin the course with any other members of our guild who also sign up. At that time we will agree upon a specified pace to get through the course and arrange to meet regularly. For those of you on Ravelry I would plan to open up a Ravelry group for those who would like to get into a Skype chat room and go through this program with us. This would be in addition to any guild group meetings we might establish for this course…sort of a virtual class room.

After the Basic Course has been completed I plan to move onto the first section of the Master's course. I have been knitting for over 49 years, nearly half a century, and there is so much that I do not know. I am opting to go through the Basic Course for three good reasons:

1. The Basic Course (if I understand correctly) is structured the same way as the Master's Program. This will give us a heads-up, clear understanding of exactly what will be expected of us. I am thinking that it is better to fumble a bit and "get our sea-legs", so to speak, in a course that we feel reasonably founded in already. Better to bumble a bit here than in the more advanced courses.

2. I want to be absolutely sure that I have all the skills that the Master's Program assumes that I have. That will save back-tracking and wasted time when into the more advanced program.

3. I would like to use this time to gather together a group of knitters who are serious about the Master's Program, (get us all on Skype with headsets and mic's, for the virtual participants) and for us to have the opportunity to get to know each other, form bonds and establish a group that knows what to expect from their fellow participants. I feel that this element will help us all to stay on track and stay the course...no wasted time, no procrastinating and no wasted money because we started with good intentions and did not finish. Additionally, I am sure that a natural leader or two will probably emerge, as in all normal group social behavior. It is better to establish the leaders and iron out any minor dramas in the Basic Course arena before we move on to the more difficult Master's Courses.

What do you think? Did I forget anything? Are you interested? I am totally committed to doing this. Please give me some feedback on this because I respect your knitting opinions.

Hugs & Prayers
Lee Mitchell
Serene Knitter on Ravelry
www.sereneknitter.blogspot.com