The Master Hand Knitter Program

I consider myself a really good knitter.  Well, to tell the truth, an excellent knitter.  So why did I sign up for the Master Knitter program?  I came across it on Ravelry, and looked into it.  There are three levels, and one must pass the first to do the second, and so forth.  The first is very basic in its content.  You have a package of instructions, which you must follow to the letter.  The work consists of 16 swatches wherein you demonstrate your mastery of basic stitches, cast-on, cast-off, a variety of increases and decreases, and color work.  There is also a hat to submit.  The thing that intrigued me was the writing you have to do.  There is a series of questions you have to answer about the work that you did, and a report on blocking and care of hand-knits.  But you can't just answer and report from what you know--you have to research and provide references for everything. 
I'm essentially a self-taught knitter, with a repertoire of techniques that I realized (thanks to Ravelry and youtube) is quite narrow, although it has served me well.  So, in researching I hoped to expand my skills.
In the second and third levels there is some designing required.  That was really my carrot.  Designing and improving my pattern-writing skills.
Besides the Master Knitter program, there are other programs, a beginner course, a basics course, etc.  To avail yourself of any of them, you have to be a member of The Knitting Guild Association.  This membership allows you to take the programs (for a fee), and includes a quarterly, excellent knitting magazine.  Here is the link to the home page of the Knitting Guild .
I am almost finished Level 1, which I started in May.  I have one year to complete it, but if I go over the year I only have to check for updates to the program and make sure the updates are included--there is really no time limit.   When all the samples and writing are finished, the entire binder (with everything in plastic page protectors) is sent away to be assessed.  It is sent to a number of "co-chairs" for assessment--the fee for the course is to cover the postage of mailing the package around--it is a non-profit situation; the co-chairs are volunteers.  After assessment it is returned with commentary and a request to re-submit samples that don't meet expectations.  On Ravelry there is also a group dedicated to these programs.  There are members all over the world, as are people who have taken some of the programs.