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Episode 41: Updates and Book Review
141 Plays1 year ago
Today I let you know what’s coming in the near future, talk about a new book on my bookshelf, and give a little insight into the trip I just returned from.
The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook, Kristina McGrath & Sarah Walworth https://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Pattern-Writing-Handbook-Patterns/dp/1635866243/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VKKIOO57N4KH&keywords=knitting+pattern+writing+handbook&qid=1699040080&sprefix=knitting+pattern%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1
Tech Tip Talk https://www.youtube.com/@techtiptalks
Taronga Zoo, Sydney https://taronga.org.au/sydney-zoo
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens https://gardens.rtbg.tas.gov.au/
Majacraft Spinning Wheels https://www.majacraft.co.nz/
Majacraft Luna https://www.majacraft.co.nz/?page_id=3371
Hamilton Gardens, New Zealand https://hamiltongardens.co.nz/
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to Craft, Design, Edit, Sleep, Repeat. I'm your host, Lisa Conway. Welcome to my world where we try to understand the business of knit and crochet design.
00:00:38
Speaker
Hi, welcome back. Today's going to be a fairly short episode. I'm just going to tell you about some things happening here at Craft Design Edit Sleep Repeat. What's coming over the next couple of months. And then we're gonna take a look at a new book that I just got. I've barely had a chance to read it. I've looked through the chapter headings and that sort of thing.
00:01:07
Speaker
But I think I've got a pretty good idea that I want to share this with you so we'll take a good look at it and Then later on as I've read through it more if I find things that I want to share I'll add another episode So let's get started First I want to talk about the upcoming months and
Hiatus Announcement and Call for Designer Recommendations
00:01:31
Speaker
The holidays are coming and that means things are going to be busy for all of us. And I plan on taking a break. I'm going to not have any new episodes after this one until February. Just like last year, time is getting short and I'm literally recording this just a couple of days before it's going to upload to you.
00:02:00
Speaker
I'm hoping that in the meantime you will do me a favor and you will share the names of designers you'd love to hear from and potentially a contact email if that's possible for you to do. If not, I'll do the research on that, but I'd love to hear who you want to hear from.
00:02:22
Speaker
That includes both crochet designers and knit designers. Also, it would be nice if you shared the names of other tech editors that I could maybe chat with and share their points of view. I have a couple of ideas on that ground, but I'd like to hear from you as well.
00:02:42
Speaker
So drop me a line at knit design edit at gmail.com or post it in the Facebook group or the Ravelry group and let me know who would you like me to interview next year.
Team Changes and Personal Commitments
00:02:59
Speaker
Next, I need to say that it looks like Nikki's probably not coming back. I have not had a response from her in a while. I know she's very, very busy. I know she's still not taking any new clients and has limited her practice, I think, to mostly tech editing. I don't know that she's doing any grading at all. That would be something for you to ask her about.
00:03:27
Speaker
I do do grading. I have just completed a very large project and I'm very happy that we've finally succeeded with this one. So don't hesitate to drop a line to me as well.
00:03:41
Speaker
But in the meantime, um, hopefully I can get Nikki to come back for a visit. I'm sure she has things that she would love to share if she has the time, but she took on a day job. She has a young child. Things are a very busy time in her life. So we'll just hope that she comes back to visit.
Book Introduction: The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook
00:04:09
Speaker
Alright, let's take a look at the new book. It's an interesting book and initially I hadn't planned on buying it. I felt like having Kate Atherley's book, I had the information I needed, probably wouldn't be
00:04:27
Speaker
mining any gold out of this one. And then I looked closely at the chapter headings and realized that there was more here than meets the eye. It's called the Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook, how to write great patterns that knitters will love to make. And it's written by two tech editors, Christina McGrath and Sarah Walworth. Now, I
00:04:54
Speaker
was introduced to these two ladies during the pandemic when they were doing Instagram Lives. They eventually moved those Instagram Lives over to YouTube. Excuse me, I almost said the wrong thing.
00:05:09
Speaker
And their businesses have grown considerably. They moved into an interview format instead of just the two of them talking, which makes total sense to me.
00:05:27
Speaker
And I really have gathered a lot of information from them. Sarah actually owns the Tech Editor Hub and that includes the courses that are offered by the Tech Editor Hub on tech editing and grading. Now there is both tech editing knitting and crochet.
00:05:48
Speaker
They used to have, I haven't looked, they used to have a small class on creating schematics that I did take. It was created by the original owner of the Tech Editor Hub.
00:06:04
Speaker
it was a good class it really helped get me started and then i just had to grow my skills because i am not an artist folks so using vector graphics and the curves and things in the vector graphics programs really helps me out a lot anyway in looking deeper at this book i realized that the nuggets that i had
00:06:35
Speaker
heard in their Instagram Lives and then the Instagram Lives that they posted on YouTube and the continuation of that. They encapsulated in this book and there's many things here that aren't covered necessarily in Kate's book.
00:06:56
Speaker
And so I really decided that it was well worth the minimal price of $20 for a hardcover book. It's a small form factor, easy to hold on to. It's oh, eight by five, probably about the size of a A5 notebook. And it really has some great information.
00:07:24
Speaker
The interesting part about this is that I think it's as much for tech editors as it is for designers because it really focuses on what you look for in a good pattern. It would be great on even a knitters bookshelf because it will help them evaluate the patterns that they're looking at.
00:07:51
Speaker
It talks about what makes a good pattern. And there are four C's, which I have picked up on and used with clarity, conciseness, completeness. And what is the fourth one?
00:08:12
Speaker
correct, clear, concise, and consistent. Those are the four C's. And really those are the things we as tech editors look for when we're editing your patterns. It comes in the form of knowing punctuation, spelling, grammar, as well as formatting and making sure that if you're using
00:08:40
Speaker
abbreviations for something that you use the same abbreviation throughout and that you don't accidentally use the full word instead of the abbreviation. You want to be consistent in those types of things.
00:08:56
Speaker
One of the chapters I'm really looking forward to digging into is the chapter on charting.
Detailed Book Insights and Recommendations
00:09:06
Speaker
I still have things to learn about that, even for my own designs. Charting is a challenge. So that's why I'm still not offering that as a service. Eventually, I hope to. But I'm really looking forward to digging into that particular chapter.
00:09:27
Speaker
Another thing I'd really like to point out is that at the end of every chapter they have a checklist that covers what you're really looking for in the pattern that fits in with what they've talked about.
00:09:43
Speaker
And then at the end of the book, they actually have a complete checklist. They also have a really good glossary and they have compiled the questions they've received on these various areas and they've put those questions in there and given you the answers that they feel are appropriate.
00:10:09
Speaker
So there's a lot of really super good information. There's a chapter on working with tech editors. There's a chapter on
00:10:24
Speaker
sweater sizing and pitfalls that can happen there. And there is small, they're not what I would call complete size standards, but there is a reasonable sizing standard chart for women, men, and children. So that's at the back of the book as well.
00:10:53
Speaker
They're not bad charts. They could be more extensive. There's other things that I think could have been included, but space was a consideration here, I'm sure. And they are decent charts. They really are. They're really good charts. They're done in both.
00:11:13
Speaker
centimeters and inches so you have both options there and they tell you specifically that they have converted to with the 2.5 centimeters per inch that is standard in knitting
00:11:29
Speaker
And they do have one for infants as well. I'm just looking at that. They've got a reasonable index. They've got a great glossary, as I said. They've got a sample style sheet. And I know we've talked a couple of times about style sheets and how you build that style sheet. And they've
00:11:51
Speaker
put together a sample for you to look at so that you can start building your own. They do talk, have a chapter specifically on style sheets. So these are many of the things that you hear in their podcast.
00:12:07
Speaker
Um, as I said, it was actually started on Instagram live, but you can find it under tech tip talks, um, under on YouTube. And they definitely have grown. They've definitely, um, included a lot of great information in their early ones. And then as I said, moved into the, uh, interview format. Yeah.
00:12:35
Speaker
and they've compiled pretty much all of that information into this book and it's a really nice handy book. I do plan on reading it from cover to cover. I'm going to be starting it here this weekend probably.
00:12:51
Speaker
Because I think there's probably some things in here that even I can learn from and I really think that it's for $20 a pretty good addition to just any about about any designers shelf I Don't know how helpful it would be for crochet designers because it is about knitting patterns and
00:13:20
Speaker
So is Kate Atherley's. But I also feel that both of these books can help crochet designers from the standpoint that
00:13:31
Speaker
the patterns should be standardized in how they are put together whether that's crochet or knitting and the use of abbreviations and the use of punctuation and formatting and all of that is also really good information even if those
00:13:54
Speaker
that formatting is a little different because of the way crochet charts are built, for example, or the difference in types of abbreviations that are used. The foundation information is still really valid in the fact that
00:14:13
Speaker
If you're going to use an abbreviation use it consistently make sure there's a glossary that defines your abbreviations all of your abbreviations not just the ones that you think people won't know because
00:14:29
Speaker
You get that brand new person that has never picked up a crochet hook, has never picked up knitting needles. This is their first or second pattern. They still need to be told that K means knit or SC means single crochet.
00:14:47
Speaker
and what that stitch actually is if you need a complete detailed of information, for example, an abbreviation, how is, sorry, an increase or a decrease and how that increase or decrease is accomplished. So while I hadn't intended to buy this book,
00:15:13
Speaker
I went ahead and spent the money on it at a time when money is a little bit tighter for me. As you all know, I've recently been on an extended journey to Australia and New Zealand and Hawaii, and that was not cheap.
00:15:36
Speaker
But it was worth every penny that I put into it and I know that there's really valuable information in this book for all designers and
00:15:50
Speaker
for a few of you tech editors out there as well, I think that it's a good addition to your bookshelf. So I will talk more deeply about individual sections if I find information that I haven't already talked about in the past, and I'm really happy with this purchase.
00:16:10
Speaker
I'll put an Amazon link for you. I am not an Amazon affiliate, so I get nothing from that if you use the link, but please feel free to use it to find the book. Again, it's called The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook by Christina McGrath and Sarah Walworth, and it's a great book to have on your shelf.
00:16:34
Speaker
Last but not least, I'm going to talk just a little bit about my trip because a lot of people are asking questions.
Travel Highlights: Australia and New Zealand
00:16:43
Speaker
I spent two weeks in Australia. There I spent most of my time with Jackie Doyle, who you were introduced to last month.
00:16:54
Speaker
She was a fabulous host and she did a wonderful job of sharing her part of the world with me. I saw some fabulous gardens. The amazing Taronga Zoo in Sydney was probably one of the highlights. And of course meeting my friends in person. That was like the big thing, of course. I
00:17:23
Speaker
really really enjoyed my time there and I couldn't recommend it more. I really honestly have to say that it was a beautiful trip. Then I moved on to New Zealand where I stayed with Julie. You have met Julie and Paul Monk.
00:17:41
Speaker
earlier this year and I stayed with them. They were my home base. I did do a little bit of traveling on my own. I actually rented a car and drove on the opposite side of the road.
00:17:59
Speaker
did pretty well except for the day that Julie was in the car with me and that was when I made my biggest mistake for getting to look to the right in a roundabout. Thankfully the brakes on the rental car worked very well.
00:18:14
Speaker
So that was good. I stayed in a Hot Springs hotel. I visited the Magi Craft workshops and met Andrew and his wonderful crew.
00:18:30
Speaker
I got to sit down at their brand new Luna wheel and know it's on my wish list. It's got to be a part of my spinning wheel herd. It's just a fabulous wheel. It's amazing.
00:18:46
Speaker
Magi-Craft wheels are all of them, very nice wheels. If the wheel design really didn't work well, they have discontinued them. Or if they create a design that worked better, they would discontinue the older models. So I recommend their wheels very highly.
00:19:12
Speaker
They're lovely people, absolutely lovely people, so kind. And I went to take a photo of one of the machines and realized that they might not want me to do that. And I, oh, maybe I should have asked before doing this.
00:19:28
Speaker
Andrew was like, oh, no, no, take pictures of whatever you want. I proceeded to completely forget to take any other pictures, except for the spinning wheel. I did take a picture of that, but I was so fascinated with how their shop was put together, how they individualized workloads that I completely forgot to take any further photographs of my visit.
00:19:56
Speaker
Um, I stood on the beach in Tirana and please forgive me if I've pronounced that incorrectly. I know I'm closer than I used to be. And realizing that I was on the opposite side of the Pacific ocean from where, what I usually see. And that was, that was an amazing.
00:20:19
Speaker
moment in time. Visiting friends and seeing the countryside. Again, I visited beautiful gardens and visited the Hoppaton movie set.
00:20:35
Speaker
and a butterfly house and just we did some amazing things and I can't thank Julie and Jackie enough for being my hosts in those two places.
00:20:51
Speaker
It was phenomenal and I will never forget the wonderful times that I had there and I hope that I can visit again in the future.
Episode Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:21:04
Speaker
I also hope that at some point I can play host to them because it would be absolutely lovely to have them visit and share my part of the world.
00:21:17
Speaker
Well, like I said, fairly short and sweet. Thank you for listening. I will be back in February. Don't hesitate to reach out with questions, comments, suggestions. I'd love to hear from you in the Facebook group. I would love to hear from you in the Ravelry group. I look at that a little less often, admittedly, but I do look.
00:21:44
Speaker
I do have the email or you can reach out through my website arcticedits.com. Thank you and have a wonderful day. Don't forget to like and subscribe wherever you listen and join the conversation in our Ravelry or Facebook groups.
00:22:09
Speaker
For show notes or knit tech editing and related services, please visit my website at arcticedits.com.