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About Us
Our Mission
The Knitting Guild Association is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to providing education and resources to knitters to advance their mastery of the craft of knitting. We support serious knitters in their efforts to perpetuate traditional techniques and keep the artisan aspects and high quality standards of the craft alive.
Our History
In the year that Reagan and Gorbachev held their first arms control summit, MacGyver sold millions of Swiss Army knives, Madonna was Desperately Seeking Susan, and the Live Aid Rock Concert raised over $600M for African famine relief — who would have thought that knitting was beginning to organize!
But organize it did! TKGA founder Carol Wigginton could not have fully envisioned how far her original organization would come. With the name The Knitting Guild of America, the vision was to unite knitters from across the country, but in 2001 the name was changed to The Knitting Guild “Association” to include scores of members from outside the U.S. The first 1985 national gathering for knitters in Dallas, Texas, with a few teachers, retail exhibitors and a couple hundred attendees, grew to an annual conference of thousands. A 20-page two-color association journal titled Cast On has evolved into a full-color quarterly magazine filled with lessons, quality patterns and TKGA news. The Internet made www.TKGA.com a reality and makes it possible for TKGA to be “home” to knitters around the world.
TKGA owes an enormous debt to the early founders and leaders of TKGA. Members, teachers and designers like Barbara Scott, Marilyn Ibele, Janet Johnson Stephens, Dixie Berryman, Evie Rosen, and Jennie Merritt developed the first correspondence courses, started the Master Hand Knitter and Machine Knitter programs, began guilds across the country and held conferences that attracted thousands of attendees. To learn more about the early years of TKGA, please click here.
Now we are beginning a new phase for TKGA. We have launched as a nonprofit organization for serious knitters run by serious knitters. You have come to expect quality education from TKGA through our Masters Programs and correspondence courses, and those will continue. Cast On magazine is released digitally each quarter, and focuses on education, techniques, and history with patterns and projects. K2TOG, our monthly newsletter, connects you with knitting news, tips and educational information. Our website is the central place where you can find the best content for knitting information.
A brochure about TKGA can be downloaded here.
We welcome you to continue your knitting journey with us. TKGA is entirely a volunteer, nonprofit organization supported only by memberships and donations. Please join us today and consider donating to help us launch the new TKGA.
Knowing the benefits of having a membership
Have questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions here for answers.