Latitude 9 NeedleArts specializes in counted cross-stitch patterns based on pictures of all the beautiful things found in Costa Rica. The principals of the company include me, Cindy Merkin, and my husband Stan. I do the computer charting and stitch all the models. Stan does all the photography of the models and provides valuable guidance.
We have a farm in Costa Rica and one of our friends there, Pat, is an avid photographer. By avid, I mean that she wears her camera around her neck from the time she gets up until the time she goes to bed! She tracks down hummingbirds and butterflies (which is pretty easy with all the beautiful flowers she's got planted around her house).
I've been an avid stitcher since 1970 (I guess that pretty much dates me) when my grandmother brought me a couple of Eva Rosenstand cross-stitch kits from her trip to Denmark. I loved the detail of the finished product, which was not found in needlework kits in the United States in those days.
One day, Stan commented that we ought to be able to figure out how to share the beauty of Costa Rica ... isn't there a way to convert Pat's pictures into a stitchable pattern? Well, I was off to the races. I converted one of Pat's pictures into a pattern, stitched it, and decided that the result didn't have enough detail. I converted it again, using a 150-stitch width, and stitched it again. This time, it had the detail that I wanted; the result is the Orange Fronted Parakeet (L9-001).
There are more in the works!
Check back soon, and thanks for stopping by.
