Help! First sweater to big. Can you shrink cotton?

[Yarn-addict]

Hi,
A friend of mine, whom I taught to knit, just finished her first sweater. Everything is fine except it is way to big for her. I feel terrible because I helped her with measurements and all. I still don't know how it ended up so big! :thinking:
The yarn she used was 100% cotton. Is there anyway to shrink the sweater? She has already thrown it in the dryer and it didn't work. She's talking about ripping it out and she's wondering if she'll ever knit again!

Any ideas?
Thanks!!!

[Silver]

Machine wash and dry that baby! If that doesn't do it, I'm afraid it's a goner. :( Did you check your gauge before you started?

Don't let her be discouraged. It happens to everyone! I spent 3 months on a sweater for my sister, checked my gauge and everything, but as soon as she put it in the dryer to fluff it up.. the yarn relaxed and now it's about 4 sizes too big. But I keep knitting anyway!!

[Aby]

oh man.. that makes me want to run right out and start on a sweater..

that would just be depressing as all hell... I wonder if my Irish/German temper would allow me to get over such a thing. I can see it now.. my husband would walk in from work and ask "honey, I don't mean to be a nag.. but why are your knitting needles jammed up the cat's butt*?"


*[Edited by mod team. ]

[Cellcept]

It's always a good idea to check your gauge frequently throughout your project as it can change at anytime, depending on how you knit and what mood you are in.
Rick

[Hildegard_von_Knittin]

I recently bought a great tool called the Gauge-o-Knit. It's a ruler, but it also tells you how many stitches per inch; I'm not able to find a website that has a decent picture, but my LYS has it. It's very handy.