Being a size small is hard and when thrifting it can be downright heart breaking. To combat my constant disappointment I decided to purchase a wool sweater at a thrift store that was far too big for me and try to shrink it. My first instinct was to get the sweater wet and then put it in the drier monitoring it every few minutes. However, I got the sweater far too wet for this method to be effective (maybe I will try a spray bottle next time). So, taking into account that I only spent $1.75 and had other laundry to do, it went into the washing machine on hot with rest of my laundry. I refrained from putting it in the drier as it looked smaller…and it is! The sweater shrank and it fits! It did lose some color and suffered a little felting, but all in all I am counting this as a victory,

I was so happy with first sweater that I tried again. I purchased this sweater second hand for $35 making the stakes a lot higher. However, I couldn’t resist trying as the heathered pink color was too beautiful to pass on. And guess what? This sweater turned out even better! There was less felting and the color stayed a lot more true to the original. I have a feeling that I will be performing this test again and again with different variations. If you attempt this be very careful, brave, and tell me about it.

Fair Isle Sweater

Before: Pit-to-Pit – 22″ / Top of Collar to bottom – 25″ / Sleeve 22.5″

After: Pit-to-Pit – 20.5 /Top of Collar to Bottom – 24″/Sleeve 22″

Before wash

After wash

This is an after pic. I wish that I would have taken a before pic to illustrate the difference.

LE Heathered Pink Shetland

Before: Pit-to-Pit – 24″ / Top of Collar to the Bott0m 28.5″ /Sleeve 18″

After: Pit-to-Pit – 22 / Top of Collar to the Bott0m 25 /Sleeve 17.25″

Before wash

After wash

Before wash