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Master Hand Knitting Committee Reviewers
In July 2019 Robin committed to the Master Hand Knitting program and received her certificate in October 2023. Taught to knit by her mother over 60 years ago, MHK was both a challenge and the most fun project of all.
Robin has taught knitting at her LYS and especially enjoys children, beginners, and the “I could never knit socks” customers. She led a once a month knitting book study group. The discussion and experimentation with techniques in Margaret Radcliffe’s books culminated in a live workshop with Maggie.
At Wiawaka Center for Women, Robin organizes an August knitting retreat. Fifteen years ago it started as a day trip and today most participants stay for 4 nights. Relaxing, sharing, knitting, and a mini fiber related workshop are on the agenda.
Her office and knitting library are Robin’s favorite place to knit. She loves to explore different techniques and garment construction. Projects requiring varying degrees of concentration are always ready to go out for tea with friends, soccer games or the movies.
Peri has been an avid, self-taught knitter for over 35 years and has loved learning her whole life.
She loves to knit for family, friends, and as many babies as she has the pleasure of meeting. Peri enjoys sharing her love of knitting with others, and connecting with her knitting buddies. Knitting has allowed her to make new friends wherever she goes, connecting over a shared love of the craft in cafes, museums, trains, or libraries, just to name a few. She brings a project along everywhere in the hopes of getting a “few rows in.”
In December 2021, after 6 years of hard work, Peri officially became a certified master hand knitter. The most important thing she took away from this experience is that there is still so much to learn! She is excited to continue to build on the foundation developed through the MHK program and to provide support and encouragement to others pursuing the same goal.
When Peri isn’t knitting, she is spending time with her husband and friends in her hometown of San Jose, CA, taking advantage of the amazing California weather and nature, biking around town, or visiting her three adult daughters spread out across the country.
Mary learned the basics of knit and purl as a preteen but didn’t knit again until her retirement. Wandering through a yarn shop on a vacation in Colorado, she was captivated by the colors and textures. Returning to Michigan, she began spending time at her local yarn shop, joining groups and classes. Mary discovered she could follow patterns to create gifts and garments.
In 2012, Mary took a finishing workshop taught by Arenda Holladay on Mackinaw Island. Learning how to look at stitches, as well as using standards to question and understand was fascinating. At that event, Mary’s knitting adventure grew from a hobby to an obsession.
Mary’s Master Hand Knitter journey began with Basics, Basics, Basics in 2012, and with a few detours along the way, culminated in 2022.
Mary retired from a career in education, as an elementary teacher, principal, and parttime university lecturer. Other than living in Hawaii during her high school years, Mary is a lifelong Michigan resident. She and her husband live north of Ann Arbor, where she is active in her local knitting guild and teaches knitting classes.
I learned to knit, crochet, embroidery and quilt as a young girl. I knit left handed, left to right, and twisted every stitch. In more recent years I did more quilting, but after retirement I again took up knitting. I attended a class at the John C. Campbell Folk School. I was introduced to TKGA and Arenda’s videos by the instructor, Charles Gandy, a TKGA Master Hand Knitter. I took the Basics, Basics, Basics course, which lead to the MHK course. It took me two years to complete MHK. A reviewer since 2019, I learn something from each submission I review.
In 2019, my husband and I completed our second cross country bicycle trip. Our first such trip was from Central Florida to the Oregon coast, both trips were self-supported. We have hiked a majority of the Appalachian Trail. We live in Lakeland, Florida.
My most precious knitted garment is a flat-knit Fairisle jumper I made for myself when I was about eight. I remember choosing the yarn in a small shop in Largs (Scotland), but what makes it extra special is that I knit the front, my grandmother knit the back, and my mother knit the sleeves. Miraculously our tensions match, and the sentimental value it acquired from this unusual collaborative origin saved it from being unpicked and repurposed.
After knitting a bear in a plaid dress by Julie Williams as a gift and being amazed at the detailed cast-on and seaming instructions, I found Suzanne Bryan and Roxanne Richardson on YouTube and then TKGA.
The MHK program led me to read many books connected to knitting, trade e-mails with Annemor Sunbø, attend yarn festivals, and meet knitters and spinners. Before the MHK program, I don’t think I ever really followed a pattern to make a garment, let alone write one, so the program has truly expanded my horizons.
Cindy Dell has been knitting for about 55 years! She was taught at the age of 11 by her Norwegian grandmother using size 7 Boye needles and Red Heart yarn. She made a very long and obnoxious red and white striped scarf!
Cindy started Level 1 in April of 2010 and finished in January of 2011. Level 2 was started right away in February of 2011, and completed in September of that year. She started Level 3 in August of 2014, but life got very busy and she finished 9 years later. Early in 2014, she bought the yarn for the sweater where it sat in her craft room until by a whim, she attended the TKGA Next Level Conference in the spring of 2022. She was so inspired that she contacted TKGA on Monday morning and got started again with Level 3. She passed in October of 2023.
Cindy is a Professor Emeritus of Education from Montana State University Billings, and has also taught knitting at her LYS for more than 20 years. She is currently enrolled in the Knitting Instructor Certification course. She also weaves, spins, dyes yarn, sews, and dabbles in crochet and embroidery. As long as she has fiber in her hands, she is content. She is a member of the Yellowstone Valley Knitting Guild and the Prairie Hand Spinners Guild.
Cindy has a husband of 45 years, two incredible children of whom she is so proud, and a grandson Caleb. She has always been into crafts, and owes it all to her sweet grandmother.
Christina was a self-taught knitter who began after college. When she found about the Masters Program, she started with the Basics class and then went on to slowly finish the Masters program, taking six years to get through it. She joined the Review Committee in 2012 and has designed and published in Cast On. Christina’s day job is leading a nonprofit which was very helpful when TKGA transitioned to a nonprofit in 2016. Christina led the business side of that work, negotiating contracts, scoping the IT design, doing the legal filings and writing the bylaws. Christina is on the TKGA board, serving as secretary and considers that her talents are better used by TKGA on the organization side. She leads the team putting on the virtual conferences.
Alicia learned to knit as a child, but took a break from it during grad school, not returning to knitting until her own children had grown up enough to be able to cook for themselves. It was a good thing, because new knitting design ideas can consume Alicia to the point where her family might have starved.
Alicia took 4.75 years to work through the Master Hand Knitting Program, where the first thing she learned was humility. She is still growing as a knitter through TKGA and through her local knitting guild, Twisted Stitches of Central New York, where she is Vice President. Alicia teaches at her LYS and enjoys knitting her own designs the most. Her Level 3 Fair Isle sweater, The Stony Bones Cardigan, features fossils in layers and won the Guild Award, First Place in Arts & Crafts Department, and First Place in Division at the 2023 New York State Fair. She continues to knit, design, teach, and learn, wondering how she will ever top that one.
Alicia is also Chief Scientific Officer of a biotech company in Upstate New York and travels often for work. She shares her life with her husband of 34 years, two little dogs, and three black cats.
Mary Elizabeth (Mary Beth) Jacobs learned to knit when she was 10 years old. (If you’re interested in the full story, see “Mrs. Anchor’s Vest” pattern, Cast On May-July 2015 (Summer 2015) issue.) In 2009, finding herself as a stay-at-home mother with three small children under the age of six, knitting enjoyed a full resurgence in the Jacobs home.
Mary Beth passed MHK L1 in April 2011, passed L2 in January 2013, and in April 2015 Mary Beth passed L3 and became a Master Knitter. Mary Beth has served on the TKGA Master Hand Knitting Committee from April 2015 to present.
In summer of 2016, Mary Beth was part of the inaugural TKGA Board of Directors working to launch TKGA as a 501c3 not for profit, by helping to form the corporate framework, establishing the accounting structure, assisting in creating policy, and adopting sound business practices to ensure TKGA’s longevity. Mary Beth has served on the TKGA Board of Directors as Treasurer from TKGA’s June 2016 incorporation to present. Mary Beth is also a member of the Editorial Committee for TKGA’s Cast On Magazine.
Mary Beth first published in TKGA’s Cast On Magazine in the August-October 2013 issue and has been designing and writing technical articles for Cast On ever since.
Edna Jenkins is a life-long resident of south central Pennsylvania. When she was 10 years old her mother taught her to sew, and at age 14 her cousin taught her to knit. For many years sewing was a primary focus and knitting a secondary interest. Approximately 10 years ago she returned to knitting and the needles have not stopped clicking!
After retiring from her job as a paralegal, she worked part time at her favorite LYS. She began the MHK program in 2016 and completed Level 3 in 2021. Shortly thereafter, she joined the review committee. She is enjoying the continuation of her knitting education through the review committee experiences. Sweaters and shawls are among her favorite projects.
Her husband is a huge supporter of her yarn habit. Her daughter (married) enjoys wearing hand knitted creations and telling her friends that her mom made it!
Jennifer Kent is a TKGA Certified Master Knitter and Certified Knitting Instructor, teaching a variety of techniques at all levels. She first learned to knit at the age of 6, and made her first blanket and sweater by the age of 7. She loved knitting so much that she studied to be a Knitwear Designer at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. There she learned to design sweater knits for hand flat and power knitting machines. After graduation, she started as a Design Assistant at a small clothing company. She eventually worked her way up to Design Director for the Knitwear Department of a world-renowned clothing brand.
All the while, Jennifer never lost her love of hand knitting, and now creates styles and writes patterns for various knitting publications. She is passionate about creating pieces that are functional and purposeful, and loves sharing her knowledge and passion for hand knitting with others. She is also the owner of Tactile Elements, a bespoke handknit home goods and accessory collection.
When Jennifer is not knitting, she loves to sing, dance, meditate and do yoga. She also loves to cook and spend time with her husband, their 11-year-old daughter, and their dog Bowie. Her Ravelry name is Jennifkent and you can find her on Instagram at @jaekknits or @tactileelements.
Kim’s grandma and aunts taught her to crochet and knit as a child at 8 or 9 years old.
She vividly remembers struggling to get the knit column of stitches to line up properly on the Pixie Slipper Sox from the Mary Maxim Knitting and Crocheting for Beginners book, the green one with a knitting monkey on the front.
Knitting got put on the back burner during Kim’s school years as sewing and horses were her free time choices. After college, life got very busy while she raised a family, and she became the bookkeeper for their family business. During those years she enjoyed sewing (especially when their daughters were small), quilting, cross-stitch, and other needle arts. All that changed about ten years ago when her sister came for a visit and showed her a “new” way of knitting. She was fascinated with what turned out to be continental knitting. Knitting became an addiction.
She joined a knit group at her local yarn shop in Cody, WY, There she heard about TKGA and the Master Hand Knitter program. She was intrigued by the opportunity to learn, improve, and get feedback from experts. She thought that when she began Level 1 that she was a good knitter since she had knit dozens and dozens of hats in the round. But she was in for a rude awakening. She didn’t know how much she didn’t know!
When their youngest left for college and she “retired” from homeschooling after 23 years, it was a perfect time for her to shift from teaching to learning. Her goal was to finish the MHK program by the time he graduated. She began Level 1 in April 2018 and passed Level 3 in March 2021. Her son beat her by a few months, but they both finished.
Kim is interested in writing patterns, teaching knitting, getting additional TKGA certifications, and continuing to dive down knitting rabbit holes. She also loves to spend time with family, travel, go camping in the Wyoming mountains, read, and play the piano. They have five grown kids (four daughters and one son) and eight precious grandkids (ages 7 and under!) that provide her with lots of knitting opportunities.
The year Jacque McClure was contemplating retirement and mulling what to do to keep her hands and mind active, a friend guided her toward the MHK program. Her friend had learned about it at one of their LYS where their Knitting Nurse and the first Iowa City Master Hand Knitter was advising patrons who had questions, or needed coaching and support. About that same time local crafter/artist/author Michelle Edwards published her delightful book, A Knitter’s Home Companion which included an essay titled “The Master Knitter.” After reading the book, Jacque was hooked and began to wonder what she would do after she breezed through the program. Well, the program was not a breeze but was engaging and enlightening. Five and a half years later, in spite of several life events diverting her attention, she earned the title of Master Knitter.
Jacque remembers her grandmother taught her to knit when they sat together her grandmother’s screen porch in mid-summer during her elementary school years. Her grandmother helped her salvage an Aran sweater that she worked on in high school and was impressed when she later learned to knit lace all by herself. Her mother is also an adept knitter. The family tradition continues with her daughter, an excellent knitter, and her oldest granddaughter who is learning. Jacque is plotting to help direct some of the other four grandchildren to take up the needles.
Ranging from 1 to 10 the grandkids provide wonderful opportunities for knitted gifts. Until they or their parents tell Jacque to stop, she plans to continue the tradition of a hand-knit birthday garment for each child every year. Charity projects help her use up stash – the options there seem endless and are rewarding. Now and then she makes something for herself or the household.
Thanks to the TKGA programs, Jacque has acquired a reasonably sized personal library of reference books rather than a hap-hazard collection of pattern books. Most important though are the knowledge, skills, and confidence she has gained through the MHK program that the things she produces are so very much better than that first Aran sweater.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, moved to Seattle for a decade, and then found my dream job in the northwest corner of California, where I’ve lived ever since. The first time I learned to knit was when my mother taught me in middle school, but I unfortunately quit after my first project. I retired from a career in research a few years ago and so was in the market for a new obsession—I was already seriously into watercolor painting, quilting, and photography. On a whim, I picked up a knitting book and learned to knit for a second time; this time it stuck. The more I learned about knitting, the more I realized how much more there was to learn, and the more exciting and rewarding it got. I knew that having my work critiqued by experts was the best way to be sure I wasn’t picking up bad habits, so I signed up for the MHK program in December 2019, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of the journey. I’m terrifically honored to now be in a position to contribute something to the knitting community that has enriched my life so much!
I have done crocheting, cross-stitching, Hardanger, quilting, and a (very) short stint of bobbin lace. Seems like a new craft started at every new stage of life.
A friend taught me to knit around 2002. Since then, I have knit many socks and lace shawls for myself and as gifts for family and friends. Along the way, I learned from experience many “what not to do’s”.
I heard about TKGA and the MHK program in the winter of 2017/2018, and joined TKGA shortly thereafter. In March 2019, I started Level 1. I completed Level 3 in May 2024.
While working through the MHK program, I learned a lot about knitting. I tried many techniques I either had avoided or never knew existed. The MHK program made me feel like a student again, and I have much more empathy for others who are learning something (anything) new….it’s hard work.
My husband is a retired, happy, volunteer sound guy. We have two adult sons with whom we are well pleased.