{"id":263,"date":"2024-05-06T15:01:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T15:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/2024\/05\/06\/althea-crome-miniature-sweaters\/"},"modified":"2024-05-06T15:01:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T15:01:19","slug":"althea-crome-miniature-sweaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/2024\/05\/06\/althea-crome-miniature-sweaters\/","title":{"rendered":"Althea Crome\u2019s Miniature Sweaters Test the Limits of Traditional Knitting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cNativity II.\u201d All images \u00a9 Althea Crome, shared with permission<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Have you ever sent a knit sweater through a dryer cycle and returned to find it a fraction of the size it once was? Well, think even smaller. Althea Crome<\/a>\u2019s incredibly detailed miniature sweaters didn\u2019t shrink in a dryer but were instead created stitch by stitch with scrupulous dexterity over hundreds of hours.<\/p>\n

The Indiana-based fiber artist began knitting in college and refined her skills by frequenting knitting shops. Crome was eager to learn new methods, and like many who are part of knitting communities, the artist was happily welcomed with advice, knowledge, and guidance. Mastering one technique meant moving onto another, and when it came to constantly challenging herself, Crome always rose to the occasion.<\/p>\n

As time went on, she eventually found herself in the throes of micro-knitting. For Crome, there was something particularly stimulating and liberating about knitting small. Designing tiny garments and being able to knit them relatively quickly provided instant gratification. As she continued to create increasingly small and detailed pieces, her practice began to evolve.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cStarry Night\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In comparison to the average knit sweater that holds about four to eight stitches per inch, Crome has achieved a gauge of more than 80 stitches per inch, meticulously entwining extremely fine silk in different hues. For \u201cNativity II,\u201d the artist blended over 70 individual colors of thread to achieve detailed shading effects.<\/p>\n

Crome is inspired by iconic works such as\u00a0Van Gogh<\/a>\u2019s \u201cStarry Night,\u201d ancient Greek amphoras, and Warhol\u2019s soup cans. Before starting each miniature garment, she first designs her own pattern, then she works underneath a high-powered magnifier, using minuscule knitting needles that she made herself from high-tensile-strength surgical steel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking at other people\u2019s art, trying to understand it,\u201d Crome says. \u201cTaking those images and working with a different medium, I just want to dig in further than my eyes. I want to dig in with my hands.\u201d This way, the artist feels closer to the works that influence her, contemplating ideas for some time before testing new skills and bridging the gap between conceptual ideas and physical manifestation.<\/p>\n

Find more of Crome\u2019s work on her website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"detail<\/p>\n

\u201cStarry Night\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cAncient Greek Amphora I\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cPicasso, Woman in a Yellow Hat\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cPop Art Cardigan\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cNativity II\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"three<\/p>\n

\u201cSheep Farm\u201d series<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Process<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Althea Crome\u2019s Miniature Sweaters Test the Limits of Traditional Knitting<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNativity II.\u201d All images \u00a9 Althea Crome, shared with permission Have you ever sent a knit sweater through a dryer cycle and returned to find it a fraction of the size it once was? Well, think even smaller. Althea Crome\u2019s incredibly detailed miniature sweaters didn\u2019t shrink in a dryer but were instead created stitch by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572,8,486,573,487,574],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}