Welcome to Urban Yarning!

As a tech editor, I want to make your life as a knitting designer easier. I'm here to free up more of your time to be creative. Through my services, I want to ensure that your patterns are free of technical errors and these small things you don't see anymore when you read your text for the 5th time. I can help you with developing a consistent style and support you in your branding process. Hence, my services include creating style sheets. I'll make sure your pattern can be easily understood by non-native English speakers as I'm one myself. I can provide translations as well if you're interested.

Testimonials

Hanna, HERBGARDEN knitwear:

I found Frauke over her website - and I am so glad that I did! Not only does she help me to make my patterns the best that they can be, she also encourages me and gives me confidence in my own work. Working with Frauke has taught me a lot about how to transform a good pattern into a great pattern and is - to be honest - always a pleasure. Frauke is very attentive to details, a great communicator and a lovely and kind person. Having worked with her for over a year now I cannot imagine publishing my patterns without giving them into Frauke’s care first. I would recommend Frauke to anyone who wants to publish their own patterns - no matter if you are a beginner or designing for quite a while now, I am sure you won't regret it.

Felicity (Felix) Ford, KNITSONIK:

Frauke is supportive and thorough, with a super-power ability to spot spacing errors or any other inconsistencies in language or in style. Her careful and precise approach helps me to think in a more structured way about my patterns and how all the different parts should work together to support the end knitter who will be making my designs. Best of all, Frauke is really enabling and encouraging. When I'm working with her, I always feel that it's completely doable to get my patterns into shape and working well. Thank you, Frauke!

Isabel van Elsen, Breibellie:

My first introduction with Frauke's work was through a test knit I did of a pattern edited by her, for Herbgarden Knitwear. After a few less qualitative test knits, I was pleasantly surprised by the clearness and good quality of this knitting pattern. Working on my own first knitting pattern, I was happy to learn Frauke works with first time designers as well. From the beginning, she was very transparent and clear about the way she works, the rate and the timeline. As I quickly realised that I had underestimated the process of writing a pattern for a graded sweater, I found in her my tower of strength. The feedback I received was clear, thorough and supportive, and motivated me to work through the difficulties I was experiencing. I ended up with a clear and correct pattern, which I sent through test knitting with confidence. I hope to work with Frauke again, and I can recommend her to any designer in need of a thorough and critical look.

Sylvia Watts-Cherry

With my first self published pattern, Nubian Queen, getting so much social media attention, I wanted to make sure that the pattern would not disappoint. I wanted also to work with someone whom I would feel comfortable with to learn the new skills needed to publish patterns as an independent designer. At the first time of talking with Frauke, I felt immediately at ease that our relationship would be the right mix of professionalism and support. Working with Frauke has made the whole process of releasing a pattern much more straightforward than I had expected. Not only did she check through my maths for mistakes but Frauke’s keen eye for pattern writing logic and instructions ensured that the final pattern was clearer and more readable for the knitter. She checked also for grammatical and formatting errors and was extremely helpful in giving advice on where to add extra information or explanations to ensure that the knitter would not be confused. In fact, I was really surprised at the level of attention to all parts of the pattern from charts to instructions and layout. I am happy to continue working with Frauke on future patterns.

Nicky Jensen, Handknits and Hygge

Frauke edited my very first pattern. She was sensitive to the fact that I am a beginner and gave a lot of helpful and encouraging feedback. She is very professional and transparent - from her informative website, to her clear communication of timelines and throughout the editing process. Frauke was very thorough, editing for math, consistency, and format. She even checked whether my yarn was still available (something I hadn't thought of) and helped me find a substitute. She also made helpful suggestions not only as a tech editor but as my target audience, a knitter. I look forward to working with Frauke again and would absolutely recommend her services to new and experienced designers alike.

Heather Folkner, Sugar Plum Ferret Knits

Frauke's tech edit of my recent pattern was extremely thorough and her turn around time was very quick. She checked my pattern for consistency and readability, but also took into account my audience. She worked with me until my pattern was readable and well formatted. She was friendly, a clear communicator, and her notes were specific and easy to follow. I would highly recommend Frauke to any pattern designer, from beginner to experienced.

Paula King, KraziKnitz Designs

Frauke provided excellent service as a tech editor.
Her editing turnaround time was ahead of schedule and my requests for further information were always promptly answered.
She provided the unique viewpoint of a non-native English speaker, both as a tech editor and consumer of knitting patterns.
She provided guidance on layout as well, which was appreciated (especially from the consumer viewpoint).
She helped me understand the changes she wished me to make. It's helpful to understand, so that you can avoid those pitfalls in future patterns.
I would highly recommend her services.

Su Sayer, Su Sayer Knit Designs

Frauke is a very thorough tech editor and has great attention to detail, checking every aspect of my pattern from top to bottom. She is very easy to communicate with and the comments on her edit are very helpful and informative. Her turn around was very quick and well within the agreed timeframe. All in all, a very professional tech editing service and I would have no problem in recommending her to others.

The goal of technical editing is to ensure an accurate, clear and consistent pattern.

To that avail, I check the following:

all numbers
measurements
stitch counts
stitch patterns
written instructions
charts and graphics
abbreviations

From a non-native English speaker and knitter's point of view I'll make suggestions regarding:

understandability
readability
layout
coherence

I won't check language and grammar although I'll mark anything I see which seems not quite right to me. And "mark" is the keyword: That’s all I'll do in your pattern. I won't change or correct anything but I'll make it clear where you should.

To avoid chaotic documents or unintentional changes in the formatting, I'll only work with pdfs. If you send me another type of computer file, I'll convert it to pdf before I start. For the exchange of files, I'm happy to use email and dropbox.

I want to build a good relationship with you as a knitting designer and support you in your work whether you're a new designer or are already established. I haven't found my editing niche yet so contact me and I promise I'll be honest with you and tell you if I think we'd be a good fit or if a colleague may be better suited to one particular pattern. But usually I'll come back to you with an estimate of the charges for my services.

My rate is 35€/hour with a minimum rate of 60€/accessory resp. 100€/garment.

To be as transparent as I can be beforehand, here is more information about what to expect for different pattern types and how the process works.

Please contact me to get on my editing calendar. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Contact me