The Tech Editor Hub

Hello Reader, If you recently found the Hub, welcome! I am really glad you are here. This Hub is all about helping *you* find success as a yarn pattern technical editor from any direction that works. Hey, I'm Sarah: a knitting technical editor, author, and sweater nerd. I like coffee (currently cold brew), birdwatching (have you seen The Listers?), many books all at once (finished two today), and a good sniff of yarn fumes. For those of you who have been here for a bit, it's been a long bit...

I got an email this last week asking if I were still in business. Uh...haha, yes! Of course! You can still learn to tech edit knitting patterns or crochet patterns. We editors have been busy chatting about lifted increases, schematics for blocking, and pattern formatting in the Community. But I haven't sent any newsletters. It feels really weird to talk about finding errors in a PDF download when there is war and the consequences of war, environmental disasters, political unrest, atrocities,...

Let's continue the conversation. The big question is: Will AI replace yarn pattern tech editors? I think not anytime soon (if at all), and you can read what I wrote about it here and here. Hit reply and tell me your thoughts on this important topic! -- Pull up any Reddit thread on AI and jobs, and you will read a lot of fear, worry, and panic. These hard feelings are infectious, and they can begin to influence what we do and decide in our business. My suggestion is that we instead serve our...

You are invited to join us for the May workshop happening in the paid Tech Editor Hub Community Tomorrow at 12 pm ET, knitwear designer and size inclusion expert Jennifer Parroccini is joining us live to discuss SIZING in our industry. Since 2018, I have helped designers create patterns that include everyone in their size range. I believe it is incredibly important that every maker can make any pattern they want, but it takes knowledge and skill to be able to provide that. And how exactly do...

If you missed my last newsletter, I started a conversation about my views on AI and our work. You can read it HERE. Feel free to share with friends. We editors do help designers and publishers get things right in patterns. We make sure that the numbers and all the stuff related to making is correct. If we get confused when working through a section, we help the designer achieve more clarity and give the makers a better experience with the instructions. We love a little consistency check,...

Questions I have heard a lot lately are: Will AI be able to tech edit? Will I lose my job to the bots? Friends, AI cannot do what you do. And in my opinion, it may never be able to--AI is not genuinely intelligent and has no ingenuity (look up François Chollet's studies). Technical editing of the caliber that we execute in each pattern we edit requires a type of human intelligence that computers cannot learn from just analyzing a database of fiber arts books (yeah, Meta stole my copyrighted...

Time for another tech editor interview! A couple weeks ago I interviewed Megan Wilding of Calm House Crafting. Megan is a UK-based crochet and knitting technical editor and designer. She an eternal lover of all things crafty, loves creating wonderful things with yarn, and is passionate about the process, especially when it involves learning new ways of working with yarn. She's always had a great eye for detail and her love for knitting and crochet has led to her career in technical editing...