Great Wave Stitch-a-Long, part 31: HAPPY DANCE TIME!!!

Hi everyone! I almost can't believe it. But the Great Wave is complete!!! 

I saved the "signature" section until last -- I don't know if it's legible (any Japanese speakers?), but it translates as "From the brush of Hokusai, who changed his name to Iitsu". Iitsu means "one year old", so his name change was meant to symbolize a creative rebirth. 

I found the 300+ French knots really tedious, and to be honest I don't know how essential they were -- maybe on the blues, but on the pale beige they are almost invisible. 

Looking back, this was the image in my first post about this piece, waaaaaay back on March 21, 2021. 

 

I haven't quite decided what to do with this piece. It's too delicate (and frankly precious!) to do anything but frame and display. Just not sure where it should go. I don't want to do my usual "roll it up and set it aside", but I also know we're only a few weeks before Christmas so framers are probably overloaded. I'll put it on my project list to clean and frame it in the month of January. (Hold me to this!) But for now, I'm just going to spend some time happy dancing. 

Now... what's next? I don't think I have the energy to dive into another big project. (After all, there's a LOT of happy dancing to do!) I have a small, secret project that is a Christmas present, so I can't really show it here. I also have one of those goofy felt-and-sequin Christmas banners; I love how kitschy and silly they are, so perhaps I'll apply myself there: 

I really only like working on Christmas projects close to Christmas, but the tree is up, the mercury glass trees collection is on the mantlepiece, so NOW IS THE TIME! 

I have just realized that this is our last check-in in 2022 -- and that our next check-in is January 1, 2023. Until then, I hope you have a magical, merry Christmas. Make sure and take time for yourself, too! (May I suggest taking some time and checking out the amazing projects my fellow stitchers are working on? Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy, and Mary Margaret.