I have been crocheting since about 2003, while I was in college, and needed something to do to relieve studying stress. My mom taught me the basics, and I branched out from there thanks to the internet. I taught myself how to read patterns, though I generally just freehanded basic stuff due to focus and creative outlets.
My mom introduced me to the world of pattern testing after she took up knit pattern testing somewhere around 2010. On Mom’s urging, I took up crochet pattern testing in the summer of 2019. I have met a ton of amazing designers and other makers. I have been able to level up my skill set and make myself some fabulous pieces.
While I enjoyed the process of the makes and the camaraderie in the test chats, I discovered I actually enjoyed the problem-solving and notes portion of tests. I was working on a pattern test in early 2020, where I left some pretty detailed notes for the designer, and she begged me to test for her “forever” because she loved the notes. That feedback actually had me looking into how I could still be of help outside of just being a tester. Enter tech editing.
Tech editing has allowed me to enjoy my favorite parts of testing – the helping and problem solving – and the chat moderation allows me to keep the chat camaraderie.