April 7
Finished blocking. Now to frame

April 1 2011
Finished crocheting.

Mar 24 2011
Tonight I finished the most complex rows of the . 76 rows are done. In about 5 more rows, it will be simple 3 or 4 colors each row.
I should block a couple of swatches this weekend to see how it will perform.

Mar 10 2011
Have finished 3 rows of and have the graph about two thirds counted. The eye glasses and beard really add to the difficulty of trying to reduce having 100 color changes in a row. Although I charted it with Lt Peach, I think the Very Lt Peach looks better with the Lavender and Mahogony. KG is great, but the colors aren’t an exact match to the real DMC colors.

The first couple rows are really twisting so I basted it to a piece of felt so I can keep the threads from tangling. Takes about 10 rows on a charted pattern before the twist is gone, so I’m hoping the felt will take the place of 10 rows.

Mar 9 2011

For ,
300 Mahogany
211 Light Lavender
3687 Mauve
Blanc
754 Light Peach

With up to 25 bobbins of color changes in the most complex rows, I’m using a shoebox lined with 3 ounce paper cups. The DMC is wound onto plastic bobbins. To eliminate tangling when finishing a row and starting a new one, I’m using a tip I learned from someone else. Do not turn the piece of crochet. Instead, place it down onto the shoebox with its top (the part with all the threads) facing away from me. Then turn the shoebox 180 degrees. Then pick up the crochet piece at its bottom and flip it towards the lap. The top is now ready to work and none of the threads have been tangled.

Feb 17 2011
Going with DMC #5 and 2.0 mm Aero hook. Each skein is about 650 stitches. Bought for
948 Very Light Peach
754 Light Peach
300 Mahogany
3687 Mauve
Sample is 32 stitches wide at 4.5 inches, so final (96 stitches) should be close to 14 inches.
32 rows is 3.5 inches so 115 rows may be 14 inches as well. May have to stretch it when done.

February 12 2011
DMC #3 (with a 2.5 mm) will create a final item about 20 x 24 -- still a bit large.
Am now trying DMC #5 with a smaller (2.0 mm) hook.

February 2011
Re-do is done. KG is great. It doesn’t leave any of the multitude of inbetween shades the microvolt does. On the other hand, it doesn’t have numbers beside the row. I’ve got it down to 4 colors () and 5 colors ().
I’ve been experimenting with some different threads bought at cross stitch shop. My favorite so far is DMC #3 Cotton. Regretably it only comes in 18 yard lengths.
But I’m getting 330 SCs from each skein, so that might work. Have to see if DMC #3 comes in balls like some of the other DMC weights.

January 2011
I’ve decided to redo the graph using a freeware program KG. It will reduce the inbetween colors to something definite that can be counted. It also provides the number of stitches per color, allowing an estimate of yarn to be made. And with a couple od left clicks, I can change the color at once. Very handy.

December 2010:
I’m nearly ready to go on the hunt for yarn. It will be 96 stitches wide, so worsted would produce a massive wall hanging. I’m going to be trying out some sport and fingering weights. I need a brand that has a lot of reddish shades. Burgundy, pink, violet, dark burgundy, peach and dark reddish-brown.

February 2010:
The pattern was the most challenging part of this. Experience with the Obama wallhanging made the actual crocheting part of it less daunting. I don’t own sophisticated photo software and at one point I was considering posting a request to Etsy. But basically, I cropped the photo to just a face. Then I used the Paint program to eliminate all the background shades to one.

There’s a free online program that will “warhol” your photos. BigHugeLabs.com With shuffle you can change the colors produced. Once I had a Warhol version of the Paint version of our faces, Paint also allowed me to “stretch” the Warhol by 20% because I’ve learned when I do graphs that my SCs aren’t square. The cumulative effect is about 20% too short.

I put the stretched Warhol image through Microrevolt to produce a digital pattern for crocheting.

Oddly, the distortion created by “stretching” the photo jpg isn’t noticeable until you print it. Then you can see the “skinniness” created by the stretching.