If you are a knitting, crochet, or Tunisian crochet designer that is writing patterns, hiring a technical editor can help take your work to the level of professional publication. Publishing a pattern that is confusing or full of errors will keep new customers from becoming returning patrons and will give your design business a bad reputation. A clear, well-written pattern will keep your customers coming back for more patterns, and will drastically cut down on your pattern support time.
What do I check for in a pattern?
- Style sheet adherence– if you have a style sheet, I will check that your pattern matches your desired style of pattern writing. If you do not have a style sheet, I will edit the pattern to be internally consistent with itself.
- Pattern components – I check to make sure all the necessary information is included in a pattern. I’ll make sure you have information such as yarn details, gauge, final measurements, and more.
- Mathematical correctness – I check stitch counts, make sure sizing matches with the gauge and stitch counts given, and check that charts match with given instructions and stitch counts.
- Grammar– I check for grammatical correctness as well as clarity in writing. My goal for grammar checking is to make sure the pattern is correct without removing your unique writing voice or changing your pattern style. I may suggest different wording if I feel the pattern would be difficult to understand, but that is always a suggestion, not an “error” that you must change.
What types of patterns do I edit?
- Knitting, crochet, and Tunisian crochet patterns
- Accessories (such as hats, shawls, scarves, and mittens)
- Basic garments on a case-by-case basis. If I am unable to do an edit for you at the time when you contact me, I will refer you to some editors who may have scheduling availability, or who specializes in complex garment editing.
Do you…”
- Edit sock patterns? Yes! Socks are some of my favorite patterns to edit!
- Provide garment grading services? Not at this time. I do design and grade my own garments, and am qualified to edit your garment designs, but do not currently offer grading as a service.
- Create custom patterns based off a concept? No. I only edit patterns that are already written.
How does the tech editing process work?
- Contact me. Let me know you’re interested in hiring me as your tech editor and give me some details about the pattern that needs editing.
- Once I’ve agreed to edit your pattern, you will email me your pattern in either PDF or Microsoft Word format.
- I will annotate directly on the PDF or by using “track changes” in Word.
- Once the editing is complete, I will email the pattern back to you with any other notes about errors or formatting changes I suggest.
- You make corrections and changes to your pattern based on the notes I’ve sent you.
- (Optional) send the pattern back to me for either another round of edits, or for a final read through.
- You publish your pattern with confidence!
What does tech editing cost?
My rate is $30/hour, rounded to the quarter hour. I keep time logs as I work of the time it took to complete the edit, and will send you an invoice via PayPal once editing is completed.
How many hours does editing take?
This is going to depend on the number of errors in the pattern and corrections that need to be made. You can save yourself time and money by checking your pattern first before sending it to me. If you have a style sheet, check your work against your own style sheet.
I will always give you a quote to agree to before starting the edit. If I run into a massive error or a cascading error, I will stop and send the pattern back to you so you can make corrections to the pattern before I continue. If the pattern edit is more complex than expected, I will let you know as well.
How soon will I have my pattern back?
When you contact me, I will let you know what my current turnaround time for editing is. It will depend on how busy I am, the complexity of your pattern, and the length of the pattern.
What is a style sheet?
Style sheets can come in multiple forms.
It could be a list that explains how your pattern should be formatted (ex. do you want the round count to say “Round” or “Rnd”?) so it is consistent as a document.
It could be a previous pattern that you’ve created that you like the formatting of, which you ask me to use as a style sheet.
Ready to work with me, or have more questions you need answered?
Fill in the contact form below and I’ll get back to you within 2 business days.