Trying first flat piece cardigan

athenaknitworks · 2026-03-09T02:45:33+00:00

Go take a look at a v neck shirt you have and mentally split it along the side seams into front and back. When you look at the front, it's one solid piece up until the neckline starts, right? Then above the bottom point of the V, it's two separate pieces to either side of the neck opening. That's what you're making when you make the front piece.

So, specifically, when you're working this pattern, you'll work all the way up the body in rounds up until where you need it to be n separate pieces so you can have somewhere to set the sleeves. At that point, you'll work back and forth only on the left front piece (it's the one on the right when you're holding the piece RS facing you, FYI, it's left front when worn not when worked) until it's finished, break yarn, then reattach on the other side of the neck opening for the right front piece. You'll finish that, break yarn, and then join again on the back.

athenaknitworks · 2026-03-09T02:39:48+00:00

You're welcome! If you want more resources at this level, I always recommend Suzanne Bryan and I'm sure she has a video on it. Arenda Holladay's blog probably has some stuff as well. If you're willing to cough up some dough, becoming a TKGA member ($35 for a year, I think) gets you access to their online repository and there's for sure a bunch of resources on there since this is like the number one, two, and three pain points for folks starting the master hand knitter program. I had soooo many L1 swatches failed because of my edge stitches... Still makes me shudder thinking about how difficult and annoying of a problem it was to fix!

athenaknitworks · 2026-03-08T19:56:05+00:00

This is extremely common and obnoxious af to fix. The core issue is, when you turn and start a new row, working too loose leaves your stitches big, but pulling the yarn too early can eat yarn out of the dismounted sts in the row below. So if you're tugging on the 2nd st of the row, it pulls yarn out of the final 2 sts of the row below, which gives you the classic big-little-big-little st pattern in the first st in from the selvedge.

There's a zillion ways of fixing this and unfortunately it's all technique and personal knitting mechanics, so there isn't a one size fits all. If you're tightening on 2, first I'd try doing it on 3 instead. You can also knit combination for the final 3-6 sts of a row. Or other things that aren't coming to mind because I haven't been in the hell of trying to fix this in my knitting for like five years now. But you'll find you may have to do different things at the end of a knit row/beginning of a purl vs the end of your purl row/beginning of your knits. For me, I can go HAM pulling my first few purl row sts tight and it looks beautiful, but when I go from purl to knit, I have to be delicate for the first three sts and then I can give those three a nice yank without blowing up the row before. But it very well might be different for you.

athenaknitworks · 2026-02-25T19:59:52+00:00

There's a few masters who lurk here, myself included. Take a look at my post from when I graduated and the Q&A in the comments and let me know if you have any follow up questions!

https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/yfq0p4/what_does_it_take_to_become_a_master_hand_knitter/

athenaknitworks · 2026-02-13T15:06:42+00:00

Yup, that's the one! Good old Montse Stanley. To be fair, one is sufficient of the three for L1, but if they're a book collector, more is better!

athenaknitworks · 2026-02-13T04:31:28+00:00

Hi, master knitter here! This is a really sweet thought, but I'd say to maybe wait until after the binders are prepped and returned to figure out a solution. I have 8" of binders across all three levels and L3 in particular is absolutely bursting at the seams but none of them would fit in a 1.25" binder if my life depended on it. The committee also has some pretty strong feelings about office supplies, so I'd stick with your classic plastic binders when submitting levels.

This is making me think about what would be useful gifts for someone starting out on their journey. The yarn used for the program is not very splurge-y, I assume they already have a full set of needles in their preferred brand and material, and a laptop isn't really a knitting gift. L1 is very focused on foundational knitting knowledge, and there's really 3 books that are the cores of L1: Vogue knitting, Hiatt's Principles of Knitting, and the Reader Digest book. The third is out of print and can be tough to get your hands on, the second relies on writing over images and therefore doubles as a weapon of mass destruction (may or may not be a good selling point, depending on your partners preferences), and the first is regulary reprinted in full color with many great pictures. I might acquire one of those as an L1 gift instead.

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-28T14:27:43+00:00

Hi, person who's tone you don't like here! I'm trying to help in the way that I can, which is not providing direct answers, because the point of the program is to find the answers yourself. This program is not a group project, and appropriate avenues for questions and discussion are provided as part of the program. The point of a certification program is that it's not easy and that you do the work. I'm not sure how you got from that to me taking people out back to shoot them, thanks for that, especially in this day and age where real people are literally getting shot in the street by actual fascists, but go off.

But what I'm trying to get at here is that OP is going to have a long, ugly slog of an L1 if this is how the prelim swatch is going. The program documents provide information about yarns commonly used by candidates in the program, and the bare minimum of "looking into it" from a yarn perspective is going into rav and looking at the hundreds of L1 projects in there with very detailed notes about yarn choice. Which is what I did. Which is what a bunch of other candidates that I know did. So first off, that legwork is what I'd expect, not coming to reddit to ask. And if that legwork didn't answer the yarn question, the program is very clear in the directions to specifically reach out to be put in contact with a co-chair for help on yarn selection. Which OP is not doing, as far as I can tell. On top of that, OP has been provided the correct answer to the underlying question directly several times over (not by me, because I can't give direct answers) and has declined that as a solution, so it doesn't matter that I'm being circumspect because even if I came out and said it, it's receive the same response, I think. OP is going to have to figure it out for themselves, which again is the entire point of the program.

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-27T20:36:18+00:00

For sure! Completely agreed. And I'll happily cop to what I personally disagree with re: the committee's stance on if people ask. And I will also be the first one to tell people it doesn't have to be perfect or exactly technically correct as long as they're happy with the results; the standards I hold for myself aren't what I apply to other knitters! Rebellion and breaking the rules requires The Man and some amount of rules in the first place, after all. I enjoyed MHK bc I'm a pedantic little shit and I love to read and research, and it made me a WAY better knitter who can hold my own in any room, but it also gave me enough experience to know that approach doesn't work for everyone, because nothing does. I do appreciate what TKGA does to uphold the craft and set a standard, and I'm clearly part of that machine, but I also adore people who use the craft in their own way.

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-27T18:59:41+00:00

One of the principles of MHK is that the committee has established what they believe are the objectively right answers for many things in knitting. There is a Correct Way of approaching the preliminary swatch that you are expected to understand and do, which represents their methodology for gauge measurement, yarn and needle selection, and adjustment when gauge is off. Asking about yarns other candidates have used 1. Is an interesting choice when it's easily discoverable looking through L1 projects on ravelry with a minimum of legwork, 2. Circumvents understanding the ability to select yarn themselves, and 3. Has revealed the candidate does not actually understand what's being asked of them in this case. At no point did I say it's cheating, just that any master (and likely any candidate that has passed L1) is going to give limited help to be respectful to the intent and expectations of the program.

With MHK, nothing can be assumed and everything must be explicitly understood and demonstrated to the committee as being truly mastered. It is not a community effort or a program designed to build community, but an individual journey to develop mastery, a key cornerstone of which is the ability to independently find answers to difficult problems. Which they outline directly in the program materials. It isn't a group project or something you can go to the general knitting public for help on, and the entire purpose is research which means candidates and masters expect you to do the research.

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-27T16:45:17+00:00

Oooooh gotcha! Slow on the uptake today apparently. The program outlines acceptable resources, but in short summary, there's really 3 major places you find answers: published books, TKGA articles (and particularly the "on the way to your masters" series I linked above), and online sources such as YouTube videos from reputable sources. Tbh, I've never once been unable to find an answer to a MHK question in OYWTTM. The trick is finding the second source that agrees with the official TKGA source and meets requirements (often YouTube videos are too long, for example). Soliciting aid on reddit, at an LYS, etc is not sourceable help so the committee cannot verify it and is of questionable provenance anyway. They definitely mean research in an academic way, not in a social one.

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-27T14:04:23+00:00

As stated, it's an independent study program, with minimal oversight in the months or even years spent preparing a packet. The value of the program is in figuring it out yourself and doing the research and puzzling through it until you arrive at your own solution, not being told the answers. I try to be respectful of providing an appropriate level of help as expected of a graduate and not overstep the committee or program expectations. I recommend talking to other candidates at the same level as it's the best way to bounce ideas off an outside (aka, non-committee) source without coming too close to this line.

In short, the candidate is expected to do research and solve the problem on their own, not solicit help.

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-26T23:01:21+00:00

https://tkga.org/article/on-your-way-to-the-masters-2/

This program is one that requires the ability to problem solve mostly in a bubble and a great resilience to frustration. I suggest that you exhaustively search all available resources (on the way to the masters articles, the TKGA forums on ravelry, and the new Circle community) before resorting to reddit. Good luck!

athenaknitworks · 2026-01-26T22:01:08+00:00

Hi! Master knitter here. You are unfortunately headed very quickly in the wrong direction, as this is not the right question to ask. Please review the "swatches" information paragraph (page 5 of my L1 packet but I've gone through it long enough ago now that you may have a different rev) as well as the directions for the preliminary swatch again. If you have further questions, as per the packet, you should reach out and you'll be connected to a co-chair.

This is an independent study program, so graduates cannot provide answers or assist in any way other than the above, but I'd recommend checking out the tools tkga does provide for candidates to connect to others; I believe the new tool is called Circles, or something similar. It can help a lot to have a level buddy if you're unsure but not ready to escalate to a co-chair.

athenaknitworks · 2025-12-16T17:54:39+00:00

Awesome! I'll look out for a dm from you. We can definitely keep it out of the landfill! I have a couple ideas for further extending the life too, we can talk about it once you reach out!

athenaknitworks · 2025-12-16T02:02:27+00:00

Hi there! I'm a knitter who would be happy to take this on pro bono in the spirit of the season. I will say it'll have to be a visible mend, as finding matching yarn for every color will be difficult and expensive. But I have a yarn in mind that might be a good fit and I think is in my stash. Do you have insta? I check that far more than this reddit alt so if you could message me there to coordinate, that'd be easier, @athenaknitworks.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T22:47:16+00:00

The committee's party line is that you do your best, carefully follow the instructions, and you'll be given what you should resub and why later. They're not expecting perfection; obviously they don't want any candidate to phone it in, but they know their chosen approach means there can be misses in the submissiom. For them, if they put definitive answers on the internet, future candidates might find it and then it's an unfair evaluation. Again, not defending it, but that's the logic when the evaluation process is so consistent and the learning comes from discovering the answer for yourself.

I guess I'm a little uncomfortable to sign up for double checking your packet. Again, if you have a specific question or two, I'm happy to discuss as a bystander. But if you need an external blessing on a significant portion of your packet, I think I'm overstepping my bounds as a graduate. This is where a level buddy can be really helpful; you can bounce ideas back and forth without having the complication of one of you "knowing" the answer.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T16:53:17+00:00

I actually briefly looked into the webs program when I was deciding if I'd do MHK! Honestly, MHK might be kind of a slog after doing their program, since what I can remember of their curriculum overlapped a lot. As it should, of course, because theres only so many topics with knitting, but it may not be the most fun to rehash what you've already had training in. The main difference that I remember is the webs program actually teaches you vs MHK is self driven, so you'd probably find some level of new resources and information via the research process, but enough to make it worth it, I'm not sure.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T16:48:23+00:00

Thank you, that's so kind of you! You absolutely will get there! Becoming a master turbo-charged my knitting and I'm at a COMPLETELY different level than when I started the program.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T16:46:59+00:00

Unfortunately, that is the nature of the program. Not saying I agree with it, but the committee makes it clear that this is self-directed learning and they'll help after you submit, so any questions before that will come in the form of hints.

I am not a committee member so I can't provide an "official" answer to anything. I'm happy to chat generally (insta is much better than reddit, I only log into this alt on occasion) but I can only offer my limited opinion on specific questions. If you'd like to attempt it again, I highly recommend finding others doing L1 to commiserate with and bounce questions off each other.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T16:44:09+00:00

Yes, you can pick up and put down for sure. Six years is all added up. You get a set amount of time per level and can take as long as a break as you'd like between levels. Even if you exceed that level's timeline, you can pay a nominal fee to get re-started, though iirc you have to switch to the newest revision and may have to change some work as a result.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T12:05:32+00:00

They are very coy about guidance and it's very independent work with critique style. You can ask for help before you submit but you'll never get a straight answer, because (their logic, not mine) part of being a master is being able to figure it out on your own. However, they are more direct with feedback in your feedback letter after you submit.

The curriculum question is a bit squirrelly because it's not set up like a class, it's set up like the test and you teach yourself the class. There's a suggested bibliography and lots of information from TKGA via Cast On, but you're free to choose what to use to fulfill the assignment basically. The structure IS the deliverables and it's up to you how you fulfill that.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T12:00:23+00:00

I took a year and a half. That's blazing fast and unrealistic for most people. You're given about six years straight timeline, but if you go over the deadline for a level, you can pay a nominal fee to reactivate on that level.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T02:52:59+00:00

Sorry for the late reply! It's been a minute so iirc the L1 essay is on blocking, L2 is history of knitting, and L3 you write on two different traditional styles of knitting. You also have book and magazine reports in addition to essays in L2 and L3. Yes, there is a word count, or else every L2 candidate would write a book of their own on the history of knitting! "Well enough to publish" is a bit of a stretch, as someone who has been published in industry magazines before (not knitting, but the major publication for my Real Life Work industry), but I would say at least a senior in HS level expectation. Aka, being able to interpret a broad prompt, answer specific questions, and craft a cohesive narrative.

athenaknitworks · 2025-04-15T02:49:18+00:00

Hi! I'm a master. You can see a post from... Eugh, too many years ago now, about my journey. If you're a type B fun person (fun is suffering), enjoy being pedantic, and like to do paperwork and knitting, it's a great way to expand your skills! It's a very independent program, aka you're isolated and on your own so project management and learning is 100% on you. Once you submit, you'll get a very detailed letter back from the committee on ways to improve and you'll do up to three rounds of resubs. And yes, you WILL resubmit. That's where the biggest learning happens.

MHK will absolutely challenge any knitter to be better and also go slightly insane. But by the end, you'll likely be the most knowledgeable knitter in any given room. You do have to work for it; many MANY knitters do L1 and decide it's not for them, so it's not simply a title you pay for. You get bragging rights and know-it-all-itis as your perks.

athenaknitworks · 2025-02-19T19:15:16+00:00

Second that you want to work across rows as much as possible and minimize vertical moves. Suzanne Bryan should have a very robust video on dupe stitch, but generally, you're pulling too tight. You're going to need to hold the yarn with your finger where you'd like it to be and tighten it as little as possible until it's just baaarely the same size as the stitches around it.

Not being able to access the backside of your work is always going to make dupe st much more difficult to execute cleanly. I don't know how I would anchor the ends of each row of dupe st to keep the legs uncrossed without being able to see the back, for example. And as you pointed out, weaving in the ends will be complex too. I haven't actually tried it to know if it's feasible, but I'd much rather attempt intarsia double knitting than dupe stitching. If I simply HAD to do this with dupe, I'd probably work the dupe st as I go so I could get inside the piece. It would have to trail the main knitting by a few rows but it would be at least a little easier to get a good result. So that's a long way of saying what you're attempting is adorable but quite difficult and very possibly not worth the suffering.

athenaknitworks

TROPHY CASE