RE: The Future of Tech Writing In America

["Sharon Burton" <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com>]

When I teach tech comm, I often use knitting as an example, especially
knitting patterns. They are a subset of tech comm. and follow all the same
rules we apply in other instructions. Chunking info, good graphics, know
your audience, and so on.

Knitting socks is not actually drudgery. I prefer to knit other things but I
know knitters who prefer sock knitting. It is an art. 

The South Island of NZ is a very cold place. Combined with the sheep
bloodlines, this does give some of the best merino wool. Ireland for similar
reasons. The US is just not a great place for this quality of wool. We're
not cold enough for long enough. And NZ has more sheep than people, so there
we are! 

Back to planning for a client. 


sharon

Sharon Burton
Content Strategy Consultant
951-369-8590
New book "8 Steps to Amazing Webinars" available on Amazon and BN.com
www.sharonburton.com
IM: sharonvburton -at- yahoo -dot- com
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-----Original Message-----
From: Bartels, Mary [mailto:Mary -dot- Bartels -at- ejgallo -dot- com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 9:33 AM
To: McLauchlan, Kevin; Sharon Burton
Cc: Chris Despopoulos; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: The Future of Tech Writing In America

Several years ago there was an article in STCs Intercom monthly publication
titled "Only Knitters Need Apply." It was written by an English STC member.
IIRC, her premise was that certain interests and skills that have no
relationship to tech writing leant themselves to technical writing.  She
specifically focused on knitting as an example. I wish I could remember the
month and year of the Intercom issue.
Mary Bartels 

Sharon Burton [mailto:sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com] wrote:
> 
> Actually Australia and new Zealand do produce the best quality of 
> merino wool. It has to do with the bloodlines, and less with climate, 
> although climate is involved.

Are you saying that they somehow successfully prevent anybody and everybody,
over a period of decades, from buying or stealing a few breeding pairs and
exporting them to the rest of the world?

 
> I'm a knitter and we know strange things. You need to learn to knit so 
> you can knit your own merino socks!
> 

I pay people so I won't have to do drudgery like that.
Hand knitting is ok for relatively bulky items like sweaters and toques (as
long as somebody who actually likes that stuff is doing that knitting), but
I can't see anything but a machine doing the kind of knitting that goes to
make dress socks, sport socks, next-to-skin shirts and tights, etc.  (The
fine yarn and the tiny, tiny loops..... and repeat half a million times.)

Hmm.  It might be interesting to write the user and maintenance manuals for
knitting machines. Lotsa intricate parts that have to work together
flawlessly at high speeds, all while pulling relatively delicate fibre
strings through convoluted paths...  hmm.

 -k

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