Stretch out sweater?
I have a sweater that’s too small now around my shoulders and arms, its 90% merino wool and 10% cashmere. Is there a way to stretch it out?
3 Replies
You can attempt after soaking it in water and wreath out the excess. Lay flat and reshape it by gently pulling and tucking.
When you soak it you can add hair conditioner to the water to help the process. I tried to do this on a shrunken sweater (probably lost a full size) and it helped but not enough, and also wound up kinda lumpy. If it’s just from weight fluctuations then you might be able to get a little extra room with this method though.
https://cocoknits.com/blogs/knit-tutorials/how-to-block-your-knitting
It's possible to reshape knits while you're flat drying them by pinning them in place--if you were knitting this yourself this would be called "blocking". There's a limit to how much you can stretch this, so I wouldn't recommend it if it's shrunk during past washes. If you think that the sweater hasn't shrunk, but it's stretched out weirdly or become misshapen, this might be able to bring it back to its original shape.
Cocoknits
How to Block Your Knitting
Blocking is a simple but vital step which will greatly improve the look of even the most beginner knitting. If you have made the effort to hand-knit something, it deserves to be blocked.
Check out our Knitter's Block and our Sweater Care Collection for all the tools you'll need.