A Picture's Worth a Thousand Stitches

       Ever since making my Obama box, I have been open to the idea that any image can be made into needlepoint. After all, if it can be done with cross stitch, then why not? Before making this piece, I luckily came across a website that creates and prints any image into a cross stitch pattern, for free. I would just translate that to needlepoint. I wanted to create an image of my mother, so I used my favorite photo of her.

              Many grueling days and hours later, I am not sure that I am using the pattern right, or sure that I even like what I am making. For one thing, in order to get a more descriptive image, you have to be willing to use a very small pattern, that in turn uses MANY different colors. More colors than I have rolls of yarn. So I basically had to blend similar colors into one because I just didn't have the variety. It was also hard using a magnifying glass for every stitch.

                                                 This is the original picture of my mom.

 

This is the cross stitch pattern that I printed out and used.

                      To date, I have gotten rid of the awful peach color in the forehead that just looks out of place. And I have filled in most of the the shoulder with white yarn. I have not finished and probably won't mostly because I don't like hurting my eyes. Honestly, I don't like where the colors in this are headed. Though I do like how the fingers and eyes came out.