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About WLS Makes Stuff

Tech editor, graphic designer, and crafter.

Welcome! I’m Whitney, owner and operator of WLS Makes Stuff. I have been a crafter my entire life, and knitting became my primary craft in my early college years. After years of thinking tech editing sounded like the perfect job for my skillset, I took the Tech Editor Hub training course in 2022 and have been taking on both independent designers and commercial publishers as clients ever since. My experience in digital illustration also lends itself well to the creation of schematics and charts (including crochet charts).

After working with several new designers who hadn’t thought about how they were going to format their pattern for publication, I realized my experience in desktop publishing software producing nonprofit and graduate school print newsletters and marketing materials made me well suited to add designing pattern layouts to my services. I’m so thrilled to be able to translate my decades of experience to supporting the fiber arts community that has given me so much joy.

You can view my portfolio of patterns I have tech edited here. My graphic design portfolio is available upon request.

Questions? Please don’t hesitate to email me, or schedule a free 30 min project consultation.

Want to make stuff together?

When you hire me as a tech editor or layout designer, you get:

  • A tech editor experienced with both US and UK spelling and standard knitting abbreviations.

  • A digital illustrator with experience creating schematics and charts for both knitting and crochet patterns.

  • Twenty-five years of knitting experience in all kinds of garment, accessories, toy and houseware patterns. As an editor, I specialize in toys, garments, and accessories with a special interest in textured stitches (i.e. ganseys) and colorwork garments, with or without charts.

  • Twenty years of professional experience in content layout, proofreading, and copyediting in Adobe Creative Suite, including matching to style and branding standards and prepping files for print production. I am also able to work in Affinity Design Suite if that better suits your needs.

  • A trained writing tutor with an MFA in Creative Writing capable not just of finding ways to improve your pattern but providing clear explanations.

  • A writer and editor with experience translating technical subjects with specialized terms for a general audience – I can help you spot places where a less experienced reader/knitter might misinterpret a pattern as well as technical terms that might need clarification.

  • After 20 years of editing work by academics from all over the world, I am also practiced at editorial support for writers for whom English is not their first language. Note: I do not offer translation services, but can assist with common errors such as word order and verb tenses.

Learn more about my services by clicking the buttons, email me, or schedule a free 30 min project consultation.

Don’t have any projects just yet?

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