For what it's worth, wool sweaters don't need to be dry cleaned. It is actually better to hand wash them. You gently squeeze out excess moisture - don't wring. You then place on a large towel and roll it up so that excess moisture is removed. You then leave to dry on a dry toilet - turn it if necessary.

You can try blocking the sweater while damp to make it a bit larger. My grandmother was a prolific and talented knitter and she would block the sweaters as a final step.

As to the dry cleaner - who knows?

Not sure about the length but….if you’ve been working out with weights, that could mean you’ve bulked up.

I had to give away quite a few sweaters for this reason.

There are ways to stretch it, but I have not done it myself.

Did you go to a different cleaners?

The key to reblocking if possible is warm water. Not cold ever with wool or hot but warm like a babies bath and like Helen says roll up to remove excess water and then gently stretch and pull into shape and leave flat to dry. If it is truly felted nothing much will work.

Sure, dry cleaners ruin things all of the time. 1. I'd call around to some more and ask about their reblocking skills. 2. It is possible that a skilled knitter might have some good input on it as well. 3. I bet there is a good youtube video on this.

I never, ever take anything I love to a dry cleaner. Most items you can find a way to clean yourself despite what the dire warning labels say. If there is no hope at all, perhaps you can make a throw pillow out of it!

I agree Kendrah. For years, I was an avid dry customer. I was always afraid of shrinkage, or I would ruin an item.

Now, I wash almost everything.

I don’t have wool though as it makes me itch.

I wash a lot of things that have tags reading 'dry clean' but for the most part since DH has retired....I buy things for me meant to be washed. If the item can go in the dryer, even better.

We've used the same dry cleaners MANY years. A family business now belonging to the son and they do wonderful work + alterations. If I found they'd spoiled something, I would talk to them. My guess is your sweater can be blocked back to the appropriate size but I don't think I'd do it myself. You didn't 'break' it - let them fix it.

Friction can cause wool to felt. That is why you are told to squeeze the item if you hand wash it. Never wring or twist. I don't know much about the dry cleaning process, but there are machines that they use that tumble the clothing like a front loading washing machine, aren't there?

There really is no hope if it has felted.

My creds is I am a spinner and weaver and have dealt for forty years or more with all sorts of fibers. And it is true that if it is felted it is toast. The fiber binds to itself in a way that cant be reclaimed but if only slightly felted you can relax and stretch but will the results be even and attractive? You can but try but do use warm water no soap. Warmth will relax. Soap makes the fiber slippery and help them move against each other and is part of the felting or fulling process of wool You dont want that.

How do I know if the wool has felted?

https://www.fibersprite.com/blog/can-you-un-shrink-a-felted-wool-sweater

Eileens article expands with details on what I said. Another word to the wise is that once the felting process has started it is all to easy for it to proceed with any agitation. As a spinner I know better than to work with fleece that is slightly felted. You tease it apart and spin it and the least thing and it starts to clamp up on you. If you succeed in relaxing and stretching the sweater be very careful about washing it in future. Felting is generally thought of as the scales on the fibers grabbing on to each other but the process can be partly molecular attraction.