The best thing you can do to make tech editing as straightforward, quick and therefore as cheap as possible, is to make your pattern the best it can be before you send it to me. 

The easiest way to check you have done all you can is to use my "Pre-Tech Edit Check-List for Designers". 

I use the following software regularly for edits. If you have different preferred software or specific requirements, please get in touch!

• MS Word (using track changes). These can also be opened using most other word processing software. 

• Google Docs (using suggestions to track comments). This is free software but does require constant internet access. 

• Adobe Acrobat. This is the professional PDF reader by Adobe. You can use any PDF software you prefer. I will primarily use highlighter and comments  to annotate PDFs. 

• Adobe InDesign. If you prefer working in InDesign, I can make changes directly to the document. However, there is no straight forward way to track comments unless I make a specific list (which will take additional time). 

I love working with new designers. If you have a great idea for a pattern and want to take the next step in getting it published, I'm happy to help.

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The easiest way to see if your pattern is ready is to work through my Tech Editing Checklist. If you feel like you can tick off all the items, your pattern is as ready as it will ever be. 

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However, if there are items you feel unsure about or need more help with, I am happy to work through those items with you. No one started out knowing everything (and no one will ever know quite everything!) so don't hesitate to ask for help. 

I would always recommend using both imperial and metric measurements to make your pattern easily accessible to the widest range of people. 

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When working out your measurements, you can stick to the format you are most comfortable with and convert the final values afterwards (or ask for help from your tech editor if you are not confident with numbers). 

Always test knit after tech editing. The purpose of tech editing is to ensure correctness and consistency.

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A correct and consistent pattern is great, but there are other factors that will factor into your final product. These include user-friendliness and accessibility for knitters of different abilities as well as style and fit. 

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While I will always provide advice regarding problems with user-friendliness and accessibility for crafters of different levels, this really is the purpose of your test knitting where you have the ability 

I will provide a deadline for returning work to you together with the quote. 

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My general turnaround time is 1 working day for each hour of tech editing. This is to ensure I have enough space for all my projects and clients. However, I always try to get work back to you as soon as possible. 

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If you have a specific deadline in mind, please let me know when discussing the quote. I usually have enough flexibility to move things around to accommodate these. 

No, you cannot edit your own work. This isn't just a myth perpetrated by greedy tech editors, it's just how human brains work.

Having knitted your pattern, having written your pattern, and having been thinking about this pattern for so long, you will inevitably see what you expect to see. If you’ve missed an instruction, especially if it’s “just” something short, your brain just knows that that step happens and skips over it. Therefore it is super easy to miss something. 

Knitting also involves a lot of numbers. It’s so so easy to add something up wrong, transpose some digits or otherwise miss something. Numbers can be hard, especially if you have a garment in many sizes, where there are just *so many* numbers. 

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Your contribution is the creativity, the beauty, the functionality, the design. Don’t fret that everyone needs some help with the technical details.

I can use both. Please let me know which spelling you prefer. If you are working on a crochet pattern, don't forget to clearly state which terminology you are using.