The tree is growing

Not really feelin' it this week!  Been a little busy, but not so much that I couldn't have torn it up creatively, if I'd felt the urge.  The chicken foot is healing nicely though, thanks for asking.  Seriously, I had to learn all about bumblefoot quickly, and then go out and buy scalpels, Vetwrap, epsom salts, antibiotic cream, etc..., and do the unthinkable! (Well, for a city girl, it felt that way.)

So, Christmas is coming, people are having parties, I, in fact, had a birthday and Hubbs and I celebrated our 5th anniversary.  I also attended an art reception (some distance from home) where I collected prize money for a first place award.  So really, the fact that I accomplished anything at ALL is pretty surprising.

The 3-D ruffled stitches now cover the whole triangle grid that I posted last week in its initial stages.  And below is what the back looks like:

Next, I feel like it needs a tiny piece of a trunk attached to the bottom of the triangle, and then I'll be tacking the whole thing onto some ecru colored linen and turn it into a triangular shaped pillow.  I better get crankin' so I can enjoy it a little while before Christmas.

Then, the market bag isn't very far along either...

It is about 18 inches across the bottom, and those tabs at each side will wrap around D-rings that should cinch up the bag and slightly round the bottom corners.  Otherwise, it will basically be a square shaped bag, instead of the standard flouncy rounded shape of most market bags I've seen.

I'm liking the interwoven chains and quadruple stitches.  It's necessary to alternate back and forth between the two colors of yarn.  I opted for a fairly heavy 100% linen 'yarn', though it doesn't feel much like yarn, really.  It is turning out to be much stronger than the crochet cotton I used in my swatch, and should support a watermelon, jug of orange juice, or any other heavy groceries I might buy.

So.... I'll step it up this week and should have a finished Christmas tree pillow to show you next week.