The Wave Cross Stitch
I finally finished the wave cross stitch! I started it back in last September when we took a trip to Hawaii. I didn’t have a hand sewing project so I just threw some DMC thread and some fabric in my suitcase and decided to pick out a project once I got there. Sitting on the beach, I decided to buy this pattern inspired by the famous woodblock print “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”, but omit the mountain in the background. It was only $2 from Etsy by CrossStitchFoxy and gave me a quick fix to my fingers itching for a project.
I made a lot of progress on the beach and the plane on that trip and then made very slow progress through the rest of the year. I love two tone projects, like the black and white pineapple quilt I’m working on, but I get bored of them faster than projects with color. Although I often struggle with making good color choices, I love color and I know that it motivates me creatively and engages me in a way that a black-and-white project doesn’t.
This cross stitch is on Robert Kaufman Essex Linen, because that is what I had at home the night before we left for our trip. I worked the x’s on sets of two threads, but the vertical threads had a smaller width than the horizontal threads. That’s why the image is slightly distorted. Working on non-even weave thread was difficult on my eyes, and on my sanity. Counting was incredibly difficult, and there are several places where I fudged the pattern to make it work with my miscounted stitches. In the end, though, these spots aren’t really visible. But seriously! Never doing cross stich on non-evenweave fabric again. It was a pain.
Does this piece look best in the frame, or would it look better incorporated into something else? I could make it the pocket on a tote bag, or part of a zipper pouch. Framed cross stitch is nice, but I really like to have a final product that is functionally useful. I’m still undecided so let me know in the comments if you have any idea for how to finish it!
Project Overview: Wave Crosstitch
Materials: Essex linen, black embroidery floss
Date Finished: 8/17/25 (took about a year)
Cost: $0
