Great Wave Stitch-a-Long, part 2

Hi everyone! Not sure where the three weeks have gone! I'm just getting started on Hokusai's "Great Wave Off Kanagawa", which means there's not much to see. I love the original woodblock print, and the closer I look at the pattern, the more I learn about it. There are so many details to see! 

Here's where I was last time, just getting a tiny start: 

I soon realized that I really would need the gridlines I'd seen so many of the talented stitchers in this stitch-a-long use. I have in the past, on the small projects I've worked on, done the main central lines, but this piece is much larger than I am used to. 

I also realized that I would be better off with the frame rolled horizontally -- meaning I wouldn't have to reach so high around the frame.  So I took it off, re-mounted it, and stitched a lot of grid lines... every ten stitches. 

I really wasn't sure how big a piece to work on at a time; inspired by Japanese writing, I decided to work top to bottom, right to left, in columns. (Top half first, anyway...)

The colors are so subtle, but I love how they show the stormy sky. 

I only got one slightly wide (13 stitches, a per the pattern) column done, plus another one started. At this rate, you'll be seeing this project for the next 18 months!!! 

In the meantime, please visit the blogs of the other stitchers in this stitch-a-long. I know at least a couple of them are doing happy dances today because they have finished their most recent projects -- which is always inspiring!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, and Helen.