Thanks to everyone who responded to my last newsletter! You all are so thoughtful and inspiring. I read and reply to every email I get, so hit reply anytime.
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Do you charge flat rates or by the hour? If you are charging by the hour, your client is paying you for the time to do the things you agreed on, usually editing and other editing-related tasks. But there are situations we run into during our workflow that we might stop our timers. Here's some things I stop for:
Confusion
Well, I don't stop immediately for this. If I come across a line or section in a pattern that just doesn't make sense, I will give it a try again. I slow waaaay down and review it to see what I am missing or misunderstanding. If it's still confusing, I will mark it, but then take a step back and assess if I actually just need a brain break. If so, taking a few minutes off the clock to take a walk, refresh the coffee, knit or crochet for a minute will help me see that, yes, it is confusing, or, no, I was misreading it because my brain was tired.
Unfamiliar technique and/or stitch
This is the part of editing I love, love, love: getting patterns on my desk that have really cool things that I need to look up and learn, or look up and re-learn because I haven't seen them in a long time. But my client is not paying me to go read all the existing blog posts on Estonian Inlay colorwork. So the timer stops while I grab the sticky notes and my books or open another 19 tabs in my browser.
Franken-swatching
Related to the previous clock-stopper, this is another juicy, fun part of editing: working out the stitches in part of the pattern on my Franken-swatch, or the piece of knitting on my desk that gets a little bit of everything added to it. Some editing days I can draw out a stitch conundrum (while on the clock) or use charting software to help me "see" it, but other days, I just have to make the puzzling part with my hands. Of course, not the entire pattern, but a few lines to make sure there really truly is an error … or not.
Fixing spreadsheet errors
It's not just me, right? Sometimes I will mark what seems to be an error, when actually it isn't--it's my mistake. This is a rare occurrence and usually only happens in complex garments with a lot of things happening at the same time. But nonetheless, it's on my time and dime to make things right, so the clock stops while I get my sheet on track.
Learning, refreshing our memories, fixing our own mistakes--these things are often tangled up in the process of editing patterns but that we might not charge the client for.
… Unless they ask us to do it on the clock! I have had memorable editing projects where a client specifically asked me to work a part with my hands and yarn (most recently a grafting in pattern--eek!), and other times where they were willing to have me figure out and re-write confusing sections.
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So tell me, what do you stop the clock for? Hit reply and add to my list!
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Making a dog sweater is fast,
Sarah
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I am a knitting technical editor, author, and sweater nerd. I like coffee, puzzles, many books (all at once), and a good sniff of yarn fumes. This Hub is all about helping *you* find success as a technical editor from any direction that works.
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