If not tech editing, probability is high that you’d find me knitting, here socks on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland.

If not tech editing, probability is high that you’d find me knitting, here socks on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Yes, that’s me knitting on a hill in March. This should tell you a few things about me, among others: My knitting is never far, I like knitting socks, and do have another look at that project bag ;-)

Want to know more about me?

I’m Frauke Urban, tech editor and designer at Urban Yarning and here are

10 Fun Facts About Myself

  1. The only place where I lived longer than 6 years is the village my parents bought a house in when I was 3 years old. At that point I already had 2 moves under my belt and 6 more moves were to follow. Bremen, where I live now, is the 5th out of 16 federal states I’ve lived in. At last I have a job giving me the freedom to work from wherever I want. I have big plans for the future.

  2. I started knitting in 1993. My first ever project were socks. After 7 or 8 years of almost exclusively knitting socks I branched out to jumpers, cardigans, blankets, hats, scarfs, shawls, mittens… I enjoy knitting lace, cables, colourwork, textured patterns (so long as it doesn’t remind me of scales), plain stocking or garter stitch.

  3. I always loved stories. My father read to me every evening, even when I could read for myself. Very soon I began to see misspelled words, wondered about unclear passages and started to question the logic behind a scene. This culminated in always reading with a pencil in my hand when I read job-related texts. I was the one family and friends came to for a read-through and editing of written assignments, theses and job applications. I mark errors in novels I read for fun too. I can’t let it slip. - And every night before falling asleep I tell myself a story.

  4. In school I learned Latin, English and Spanish. Later I learned Dutch and Gaelic because I enjoy languages. I’m fluent in German and English so I can provide translations from and into these two languages.

  5. After finishing school, I did an apprenticeship as a gardener. At university I studied horticulture and then did my doctorate in agriculture. I worked as a scientist in the field of plant breeding and used statistical methods to analyse historic plant breeding data (my thesis; there is an English summary at the end). This career spoke to my systematic, organized, thorough, analytical and perfectionist side.

  6. Jobwise, I was searching for the Swiss army knife of jobs. I wanted to combine all the things mentioned above. So now I’m a self-employed technical editor for knitting patterns and knitting designer who could work from anywhere with connection to the internet. I get to use a lot of my strengths in an industry I’m passionate about.

  7. In our “Abizeitung“ which is like a yearbook I was called Strickliesl. Liesl is a German form of Elisabeth and stricken means to knit. Also, it’s the word for that device to make knitted cords (French knitting or knitting Dolly). That was deprecatory but I think nobody’d be surprised to learn that I work in the knitting industry now.

  8. I guess I tend to experiment with things I like, I love variety and learning. Take dancing: I learned ballroom dancing, American step dance, belly dance, hip hop dancing, Square Dance, Salsa dancing. I tried Greek and Ethiopian dancing with colleagues. I enjoyed most of it :-) And I play recorder, piano, violoncello and bagpipes.

  9. When I worked at university I had colleagues from all over the world. Our common language was English. But a lot of people spoke German with me when we were alone. My fear was that they did it because they wanted to be kind and spare me having to talk in English. So I asked one of my colleagues who did this and the answer was eye-opening: “Not at all. But you are so friendly that I’m not afraid speaking German with you. I can practice without feeling embarrassed.“

  10. I love Sherlock (all versions but the BBC one most of all) and like Sheldon a lot. Obviously this means I’m a nerd.

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