Sweater advice needed

[Eireann]

Hi all,

I recently bought a very nice sweater. I got flour on it. I washed my very nice sweater. My very nice sweater came out of the dryer with loops of yarn popping out all over. A look at the care label showed me that, yes, it should have been hand-washed. I washed it in cold water, so I think it would have been all right if I hadn't put it in the dryer.

So. Is there anything I can do for it? I really like this sweater. I tried soaking it in cold water, which had no effect (unless the loops go back into the knit as the sweater dries). I tried stretching it a bit to see if the loops would subside. Nope.

Any ideas?

[MoonCat]

All I can suggest is using a crochet hook (if you can get one) to gently pull the loops through the sweater so they will be on the inside of it. Whether this works will depend on how tight the weave is. Also don't pull hard, just enough to gently work the loop through the weave until that bit of yarn looks smooth again from the outside of the garment.

If you don't have a crochet hook, a blunt yarn needle with a larger hole could work, or in a pinch a piece of wire with the end bent like a candy cane (as long as the wire is stiff enough to hold the curve)

[Dreamstalker]

I asked The Yarn Helpline (aka my mom) and here's what she said:

"oohhh, not nice to put sweaters in dryers.
My only suggestion is to get a crochet hook (big enough to catch the yarn) and starting on the wrong side, insert the hook to the right side (outside) of the sweater, catch the loop and pull it back to the wrong side (inside)."

[Seshat]

Knitting, crochet, tatting and lacemaking are all ways of twisting yarn (or thread) into specialised knots.
Often these are in repeating patterns, so you have a long row of one kind of knot, then a long row of a similar knot in the row above it, then the first knot again... yes, I'm describing a common knitting 'stitch' for that.

It sounds like what's happened is that the knots have worked loose, and the loose place is all in the same part of the knot. So instead of 'knot knot knot' you have 'knOt knOt knOt'. Most likely, the other parts of the knot have tightened, as well. So a perfect fix would require not just moving the loose bit, but loosening the tightened parts.

However, the fix the others have suggested is probably the best you can do without incredible patience. Over time, with wear, the knitting is likely to work itself into something closer to its original form.

[Eireann]

Thanks! I'm working on pulling the loops through now. It's a tedious process, and one that will probably take many days - maybe until the warm weather comes. Fortunately, I have other sweaters.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Hold this thread while you walk away?

[Nunavut Pants]

That's only if you want to destroy my sweater...