Crochet ladies can you help?

[mummyplonk]

Hiya, am rediculously excited I have just finished my first ever crochet project for my Mum as a Christmas present, it isn't very good It is a striped scarf that goes in an out a lot! But I learned how to do some little roses tonight to put on the ends and I know she will love it because I have spent about 200 hours on it lol. But i used the wrong wool for a lot of it and it's really stiff, I do not dare wash it, can anyone recommend a way to get it softer please?

Shameless bump please help me finish this thing

I'm no expert but I'll try and help. What kind of wool did you use? Was it a natural or man-made fibre? And what weight? It should tell you both these things on the label. Also, what size hook did you use, and what is the pattern like?

If you can tell as much of this as poss, I'll see what you might be able to do, and maybe someone else will also come along.

Off the top of my head, you could try "blocking" (google it, there are good explanations). That might help a bit.

Thank you I used a 5 m hook so quite big and a double strand wool, the natural wool on the stripes is the coarse bit, all the other stripes with the nylon blend Are fine.

I would try blocking it - basically just wet it, and pin it out flat somewhere to dry. It helps all the stitches settle into place, and sometimes this has the effect of loosening it a bit. I'd use cold or barely lukewarm water, as hot water could felt / shrink it.

I'd add some fabric softerner too....

Yes, it sounds rescuable. Try blocking and see how that goes and come back if it doesn't do what you need. Good luck.

Do you have a tumble drier? At the end of the cycle of mine is a cool bit where it just tumbles round but doesn't heat like the actual drying part of the cycle - I've found that this softens things up.