“I saw this sign at my favourite fruit/veggie market. It’s a great store with really good prices (as you can see). I got a chuckle from the ‘ant accident’ blooper but didn’t have the heart to tell the hard-working Persian owners.” Photo by Caroline Helbig.
EVENT LISTINGS: June 2013
Do you have an event planned (or know of one) that you’d like to appear in these listings? Send us the details.
June 7–9, 2013: EAC Conference 2013: Between the Lines
Plan to attend EAC Conference 2013 in Halifax, Nova Scotia? Good news: registration is now open. Even better news: register by April 12, 2013, and you could save up to $235.
This year, conference will feature sessions built around five themes: arts and sciences; business and government; career building; language and culture; and techniques and technologies. Four pre-conference workshops are also being planned.
Note: as EAC Conference 2013 is a joint event, held with the Indexing Society of Canada (ISC), EAC member rates will be extended to members of both associations. EAC member rates will also be extended to members of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA) and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS).
Conference location
- The Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites, 1515 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
The Lord Nelson overlooks the Halifax Citadel. It is within walking distance of pubs, cafés, restaurants, jazz clubs, cinemas, and theatres. Photo courtesy of The Lord Nelson.
The Lord Nelson is EAC’s official conference hotel: pre-conference workshops, conference sessions, Welcome Reception, and Saturday-evening banquet will be held there.
To qualify for a reduced EAC guest-room rate, book your room by April 12, 2013. Rates range from $119/night for a “Petite Room” to $189/night for a “Premiere Room.”
Reserve by phone: call 1-800-565-2020 (room code: Editors’ Association of Canada). Reserve online (room code: 37015126).
Selected conference costs for EAC, ISC, CAA, and WFNS members
- Three-day registration: $515 for those who register by April 12, 2013 (after: $590)
- Two-day registration: $360 for those who register by April 12, 2013 (after: $440)
- One-day registration: $260
- Pre-conference workshop: $100
- Saturday-evening banquet: $75
Selected conference costs for EAC, ISC, CAA, and WFNS student members
- Three-day registration: $410
- Two-day registration: $290
- One-day registration: $200
- Pre-conference workshop: $100
- Saturday-evening banquet: $75
Selected conference costs for non-members
- Three-day registration: $750
- Two-day registration: $620
- One-day registration: $37
- Pre-conference workshop: $125
- Saturday-evening banquet: $75
June 8, 2013: Editing Workshop … For Writers Too
This workshop will also be held May 11, 2013, in Victoria; July 13, 2013, in Nanaimo; and August 17, 2013, on Salt Spring Island.
This summer, editor Cheryl Cohen will be offering four sessions of her hands-on editing workshop, which she describes as an “intensive, fun encounter.” Topics will include: substantive editing; copy editing; proofreading; the editor–writer relationship; and tips on how to become a professional editor. Each participant will receive an 18-page handout.
About the instructor: Cheryl Cohen is an experienced freelance editor who has worked on many high-profile books, including Miriam Toews’ widely read novel A Complicated Kindness, which won the 2004 Governor General’s Award for English Fiction. Cheryl spoke about the state of the publishing industry—and how writers should adapt—at the Professional Editors Association of Vancouver Island (PEAVI) May 13, 2013, meeting.
- Time: 10h00–16h00
- Cost: $85 for everyone who registers (with deposit) by May 25, 2013 (after: $100)
- Location: Salt Spring Island Public Library (program space), 129 McPhillips Avenue,
Salt Spring Island - Registration
NORAD tracks Santa
NORAD keeps close watch on Santa as he nears Canadian airspace.
Want to know when Santa enters Canadian airspace on Christmas Eve? So does NORAD.
In the 2012 Canadian NORAD Region holiday video, Major General Pierre St-Amand explains that “trackers in the Canadian air-defence sector … [will] closely monitor their radar systems to make sure Santa and his reindeer are not delayed on their way into your home on Christmas Eve.”
When Santa and his reindeer near eastern Canada, NORAD will scramble two Canadian fighter jets to escort Santa into Canadian airspace; the fighter jets will accompany Santa across Canada as he makes his deliveries and then escort him to the border to ensure that he leaves.
Merry Christmas!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-ECciloF0&w=560&h=315]
Winter Word Art
If you ever find yourself buried under an avalanche, survival experts advise that you first clear the snow surrounding you then spit into it. Whichever way the saliva goes, up will be in the opposite direction.
Let it Snow! Rosemarie Jarski, 2004.
Photo courtesy of The Hannah Collection.
Happy holidays!
Happy holidays from the crew at West Coast Editor.
Submission deadlines
West Coast Editor accepts content for publication at any time during the year, with four exceptions: feature articles, feature interviews, gift featurettes, and recurring columns, which have longer lead times.
- February 2013 edition: January 4, 2013
- March 2013 edition: February 1, 2013
- April 2013 edition: March 1, 2013
- May 2013 edition: March 29, 2013
Urban Girl gets culinary
Box-standard biscotti. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.
Exciting poodle biscotti! The smaller, thinner shape requires less baking time than the traditional oblong. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.
This Christmas, Urban Girl is baking her way through her hostess-gift list. A recent trip to a local flea market turned into a cookie-cutter shopping spree when she happened upon a stash of retro kitchenalia. She’s decided to make low-fat gingerbread wiener-dogs (recipe: The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking) as well as poodle and Scottie dog biscotti (recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook).
Cookies in wide-mouth mason jars, with a twist of eco-friendly twine. Hostess gifts done.
Top tip: hover around the oven when baking cookie-cutter biscotti—the smaller, thinner shapes burn easily.
After burning two batches of her poodle and Scottie dog biscotti, Urban Girl realized that they needed less than half the baking time called for in the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook recipe. Lesson learned.
Sourcing:
The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.
Funky cookie cutters
While Urban Girl purchased her cookie cutters at a local flea market, she noticed equally funky-looking ones on the Etsy social–commerce site.
Lifetime measuring cups
Urban Girl loves her measuring cups. They have pouring spouts on both sides and can be placed directly on the stove top to melt butter or warm oil.
Spice Jar measuring spoons
Urban Girl swears by her slim-line Spice Jar measuring spoons: each fits into the mouth of a standard spice container, metal or glass. The day after she purchased them, she dropped off her box-standard balloon-shaped measuring spoons at her local Salvation Army Thrift Store.
“Gingerbread People (Reduced Fat)” recipe from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, 1997. Recipe on pages 828–829.
“Almond Biscotti” recipe from Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, Liz Vaccariello with Cynthia Sass, 2008.
This biscotti recipe has become an Urban Girl favourite: it’s low(ish) calorie and delicious. Recipe on page 296.
Urban Girl and the Secret Santa gift
Urban Girl will be going to several Christmas parties this month, all featuring a Secret Santa gift exchange. So what has she decided to buy? Canadian. She’s putting together small gift baskets featuring gorgeous hand-blown Christmas-tree ornaments—made by Vancouver glass artist Malcolm Macfadyen—and tins of specialty teas from Great Wall Tea Company and DavidsTea. All affordable. All Canadian.
Sourcing:
The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.
DavidsTea.
DavidsTea also has more than 150 types of tea to choose from, which makes Urban Girl very happy. Choice is good.
Glass Craft.
Urban Girl loves blown-glass Christmas ornaments and thinks that everyone else should too. She found hers in a local nursery.
Great Wall Tea Company.
Urban Girl loves Great Wall Tea Company. It carries more than 150 types of tea, including her favourite, the über-pungent black tea Russian Caravan.
Twine spool with scissors
This twine spool reminds Urban Girl of a gigantic spool for thread. It’s funky and functional.
AUNT BROCCOLI
KNIT YOUR WAY THROUGH YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT LIST
Project: one-skein scarf with shell buttons
Words and photographs by Jennifer Getsinger
Jennifer “Aunt Broccoli” Getsinger shows you how to knit an artistic-looking scarf with shell buttons, in a couple of hours, using a single skein of yarn.
This 3-rib Salt & Pepper Scarf was knitted on 1.5 cm needles in curlicue acrylic yarn.
It’s too close to the Christmas holidays to knit socks, and you can’t stand the thought of any more shopping. In your knitting basket are a few odd balls of yarn left over from various projects. How do you create an easy and attractive home-crafted gift in a hurry?
Herewith are Aunt Broccoli’s guidelines for making an artistic-looking (and warm) buttoned scarf, in a couple of hours, using a single skein of yarn:
- Simple design.
- Fat knitting needles.
- Exotic-looking buttons.
Guideline #1: simple design
Aunt Broccoli believes in keeping things simple, especially when attempting to knit her way through her gift list.
And nothing could be simpler than rib stitch: columns of knit stitches alternating with columns of purl stitches. (Okay—stockinette stitch is simpler, but you can’t use stockinette stitch on a scarf because it won’t lie flat.) All three scarves shown here can be made by knitting two stitches and then purling two stitches, repeating until the scarf measures the length of your arm.
See instructions.
See materials list.
Guideline #2: fat needles
This 3-rib Salt & Pepper Scarf was knitted on 1.5 cm needles in curlicue acrylic yarn.
This 6-rib Autumn Colours Scarf was knitted on 1 cm needles in a silk–wool blend.
This 3-rib Classic Black Scarf was knitted on massive 2.5 cm needles in an angora–wool blend.
Aunt Broccoli notes that the time required to knit a scarf is inversely proportional to the size of the needle: fat needles = less time. You may have to experiment to get the best combination of yarn, needle size, and completion time.
For her Autumn Colours Scarf in a silk–wool blend, Aunt Broccoli used 1 cm needles and 6 ribs and completed the project in approximately 3 hours.
See photograph.
For her Salt & Pepper Scarf in curlicue acrylic yarn, Aunt Broccoli used 1.5 cm needles and 3 ribs and completed the project in less than 3 hours.
See photograph.
For her Classic Black Scarf in an angora–wool blend—a spiderweb-like, narrow scarf—Aunt Broccoli used 3 ribs and massive 2.5 cm needles (rocket ships or castle turrets?) and completed the project in approximately 2.5 hours.
See photograph.
Top tip: for tighter scarf ends, start and finish with smaller needles.
See instructions.
See materials list.
Guideline #3: exotic-looking buttons
The exotic-looking shell buttons shown here are invasive purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata.
![Included in Aunt Broccoli's stash are these [name of shells in English; name of shells in Latin]. She has earmarked them for her next project.](http://wcebugle.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/aunt-broccoli_61.jpg)
Included in Aunt Broccoli’s stash are these whelks, Nucella sp. She has earmarked them for her next project.
For all three scarves shown here, Aunt Broccoli used the invasive purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata. (Nuttallia obscurata comes in white to pink to purple, and is very common on Vancouver beaches.) The shells easily slip through the wide holes in the knitted pattern to hold the two ends of each scarf together.
Once she had cleaned and dried the shells, she selected two pairs of contrasting large shell buttons and then tied them together back-to-back with yarn (elastic will work just as well).
Voila. Three more scarves ready for under the tree.
Top tip: the trick to making your shell buttons look shiny-wet is spray acrylic, or lacking that, clear nail polish, both of which dry almost immediately.
See instructions.
See materials list.
Instructions for knitting your own 3-rib, 6-rib, or 8-rib scarf
- Cast on 12 sts for 3-rib scarf. (24 sts for 6-rib scarf; 32 sts for 8-rib scarf).
- Every row: *K2. P2. Repeat from * to end of row. Repeat this row for length of scarf.
- Cast off knitwise (WS).
- Try on scarf and mark position for two (pre-drilled) shell buttons. Sew on buttons using a coordinating or contrasting yarn; black is always appropriate.
What you need for this project
- Fat knitting needles.
Aunt Broccoli’s choices: Salt & Pepper Scarf: 1.5 cm needles and 3 ribs. Autumn Colours Scarf: 1 cm and 6 ribs. Classic Black Scarf: 2.5 cm and 3 ribs.
- One skein of yarn.
Aunt Broccoli’s choices: Salt & Pepper Scarf: a curlicue acrylic from her stash. Autumn Colours Scarf: a silk–wool blend from her stash. Classic Black Scarf: an angora–wool blend (70% angora; 30% wool) from her stash.
- Two sea shells.
Aunt Broccoli used the purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata, as buttons for all three scarves.
- Spray acrylic sealer, such as Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear or clear nail varnish.
- Small rotary tool (1/16-inch drill bit).
DRIVE-BY EDITING: spelling
CTV News online usually has high standards for editing, but, as seen in this November 21, 2012, headline, “B.C. MP calls for tsumani debris clean-up fund,” even the most astute editors don’t catch every typo. Here, the pesky m and n switch—in tsunami—escaped their notice. Photo by Stefania Alexandru.
DRIVE-BY EDITING: spelling
Brian Scrivener sent us this typo-containing advertisement. He writes, “Apparently, it’s very important where one parks one’s principles. More crucially, editors will argue for hours over the many reasons why there should or should not be a hyphen in ‘Lieutenant Governor.’”