GCGSW #4 Is On the Blog!

So last weekend I enlisted the boys and my Mom to get the beach house ready for the 4th annual GCGSW. We started with a nice pitcher of beer and barbecue at Hurricane's before diving in. Now when is the last time you shared a pitcher of beer with your Mom or Dad? You should do that - it's Christmas!


Lucas decided to use a string of lights for the stairway handrail - nice idea, Lucas!


Mimi and Drew put up my vintage silver Christmas tree and decorated it while Jake supervised. It reminds me of one from probably 1970 that I can barely remember, but was also the year I got a toy metal stove that was just my size.


Here's the final setup - 7 sewing stations plus couches for the knitters...because I thought it was going to be cold outside - haha.


And the rest of the week I madly finished my first prayer shawl for a friend who lost her husband. It looks great from a distance...


Till you notice that my yarnovers shifted towards the end - arghhhh!


And that brings us to GCGSW - would you believe it was 80 degrees on December 17th?! Thus we all ended up outside knitting or crocheting or needle felting...


and eating and drinking and admiring Heidi's tatting!


Nancy crocheted this precious fox...


and was our grand prize winner of productivity, finishing 4.5 projects, I believe. This is a needle-felting project she did, and I totally forgot to get a picture of an old man's face she did out of wool - really incredible.


Just take my word, a chunk of wool she needle felted ended up looking just like the guy on the left minus the hair.


This was a sweater Yaffa had started years ago using Intarsia, but she was mainly working on a precious penguin - and now I think I need a book of animals to knit...or needle-felt.


After a delicious dinner of Yaffa's brisket and potato latkes plus Heidi's almond flour-crust pizza, followed by Becky's stunning chocolate brownies (recipe below) and Katrina's delicious eggnog, we brought it inside for some sewing and more knitting.


Becky nearly finished a knitted cowl plus worked on a blouse, and Katrina finished a silk top.

This is Robbie's flannel pajama top - love the sassy pose!


And this is a sweater Katrina had been working on for a couple of years that Heidi set the final sleeve in to finish.


Va-va-voom!


And last but certainly not least, Heidi tutored and assisted with lots of knitting questions, worked on a log cabin blanket, and also gifted me with this precious tatted Mardi Gras hat!


No seriously, it's a pin-cushion, and if I can find a way to make it stay on Jake, I'll have a mobile pin-cushion wherever I go!


And I'll leave you with Becky's brownie recipe, but Robbie, can you email me your breakfast casserole recipe please? So It was a wonderful weekend with lots of crafting, talking, and even some walking before dinner - just over 2 miles to be exact - yay us! Thanks for coming, ladies. Have a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah, and let's do it again soon!

Jessica's Sticky Chocolate Brownies
Makes 9
INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 4-1/2 ounces dark chocolate 1 Tbsp light corn syrup 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheated oven at 350°F

1. Lightly grease and flour a shallow 8-inch square cake pan. 2. Place the butter, sugars, dark chocolate, and light corn syrup in a heavy­based saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool. 3. Beat together the eggs and extract. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture. 4. Sift together the flour, unsweetened cocoa, and baking powder and fold carefully into the egg and chocolate mixture using a metal spoon or a spatula. 5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, until the top is crisp and the edge of the cake is beginning to shrink away from the pan. The inside of the cake will still be quite dense and soft to the touch. 6. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan, then cut it into squares to serve.