Knitted Mona Lisa? Finnish knitter’s skillful sweaters are wearable art

How did you first get the idea to start knitting images?

I started knitting portraits a couple of years ago. When my grandchild fell ill with leukemia, I knitted a vest featuring an image of Jesus to comfort myself. After that, I began replicating images from famous artworks, musicians, and Western film stars.

At first, I used leftover yarn from things like wool socks. I also picked up partial skeins at thrift stores. If I need a full skein, for instance for the sleeves, I buy the cheapest yarn I can find. Often, the total cost for a sweater is only around 10–15 euros.

When I started posting pictures of these knits on social media, even strangers got in touch and donated extra yarn. Through that, I’ve received some pretty unusual yarns. One bag contained lovely shiny yarn, and it brought to mind an image of a tsarina. That’s how I ended up knitting a sweater of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Empress of Russia.

How are the portraits created?

I first choose a photograph and make an A3-sized enlargement. Then I draw a grid on the paper with a pencil and ruler. The squares are small, just 2×2 millimeters, so it takes one to two hours to complete the gridding.

I work the image as a round colorwork knit. As I knit, I have to decide which color to use for every stitch. I tie and carry the yarn ends as I go, and none of my knits has ever unraveled. I’m proud of my precision and self-discipline.

Completing an entire sweater usually takes about a month. For instance, the image of Jim Morrison has roughly 18,000 stitches.

How do you make the faces look so lifelike?

My secret technique is needle felting the details, like the pupils of the eyes. I want to breathe a soul into the face. I also paint and have created hundreds of portraits. I’m endlessly fascinated by the human face and personality. Each piece has a bit of me in it, because I only choose subjects that excite me. Making landscape images just isn’t my thing.