Carol Casparian is as gifted a teacher as she is a knitter. She works at The Endless Skein as a knitting instructor as well as on the retail floor. Carol has earned her Level One Master Knitter certification through TKGA's prestigious program and is halfway through Level Two. In this interview, Carol shares some of her experiences in knitting and teaching.

Please tell us the story of how you learned to knit!

I learned to knit in 1981 when I was studying in Germany for one year. At the same time, my younger sister was studying in France and living with a family for the year. I went to visit them for Christmas and discovered that the mother was teaching my sister how to knit. Not willing to be outdone by my younger sister, I asked her French mother if she would teach me too. She agreed and showed me how to cast on, purl, knit, do stockinette stitch and ribbing using the throwing method.

Shortly before I left them to go back to Germany, we went to a yarn store, where I picked out a pattern and yarn. Not knowing any better, I picked out a colorwork sweater, worked flat from the bottom up with set-in sleeves. She said not a word, just asking me if I was certain that was what I wanted to knit for my first-ever project. Having no idea that this was not something a total beginner should tackle, I said yes, I was certain. She then sent me happily on my way back to Germany.

On the train back, I cast on and began. I worked determinedly on my first sleeve over the next month, struggling to get the tension even. Finally, one day it happened – I got the hang of it and my tension evened out, the stitches beginning to look uniform and neat. From that moment on, I was hooked. (On the right, you can see Carol on a bus traveling through East Germany to Berlin in 1982, the moment her knitting "clicked"!)

My second project was a cabled turtleneck made with a bulky yarn, knit in the round from the bottom up with raglan sleeves knit in. This one I did not have a pattern for. I saw the sweater on the sister of a German friend, asked her if I could look at it, and just counted the stitches and measured it.

I still wear both those sweaters to this day, now pointing out on the colorwork one exactly where on the sleeve you can see the change in my knitting where I finally mastered my tension issues.

What have you learned over the years from knitting?

That you need to relax and have patience when knitting. I have learned that making mistakes and having to rip them out is not the worst thing in the world. I actually learn a lot when I have to fix my mistakes.

Do you find that teaching affects your own knitting?

Definitely! I have learned to not rush into starting a project but to take the time to knit a gauge swatch and to research and practice the skills I'll need for the project, be that cables, colorwork, lace, or whatever. I have now started to buy an extra skein of yarn just for that sole purpose.

Are there other ways that teaching has changed you as a person?

It has made me begin to think out of the box and try to look at all the possibilities available for everything, not just my knitting.

Tell us a bit about The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA) Master Hand Knitter program. Has your work towards your certification helped you as a teacher?

Absolutely! The Master Knitter program is designed as a four-and-a-half year course of study to bring your knitting to a whole new level through mastery of knitting techniques, pattern writing, garment design, and knowledge about the history and traditions of knitting. There are three levels and each level builds upon the skills covered in the previous level. For each level of the program, swatches will be knit, reports written, questions answered and projects completed. The Master Hand Knitter Committee evaluates each level as it is completed and you can only advance once you have passed that level. 

This has definitely helped me as a teacher as I have gained a better understanding of the techniques employed in knitting and am better able to pass that knowledge along to my students.

Anything else you would like to share?

I have realized that I really love to share my love of knitting with others and help them grow into better and totally independent knitters. I want them to love it as much as I do!