loose loops after wash?

Not so newbie, but not an advanced knitter, either. I like to buy fun yarns and knit blankets for Project Linus in my area. I sit and knit, I wash, I label, I drop off. usually no issue at all. My kiddos picked out this new-to-me awesome rainbow acrylic yarn from HL. The suggested needle size made the holes much too large for a toddler blanket, so I reduced the needle size from a suggested 19 to 13 (and the loops were still somewhat large, actually). I washed cold cycle, handwash setting, and set the dryer to air fluff. The yarn care instructions said cold wash, tumble dry low, so I thought it would be fine. Welp, what the heck happened? I hope you can see the large pulled loops in the pic. I have never had this happen before! As I said, I am not an advanced knitter by any stretch - I tend to just knit while watching a movie or waiting for kiddo’s practices to be over - simple knit stitch, not even stockinette. I tend to finish about a blanket a week and have used all kinds of yarns and never had this happen after I washed it in preparation for donation (we have a dog and like to make sure there is no dog hair embedded in it.) I use a FurZapper in the washer/dryer to pull out any dog hair, so you think it pulled the loops?

Also, how do I fix this, go through and pull them all to even them out?

Thank you for any help, I so appreciate finding this community!

Welcome to the forum!
This can happen with yarns similar to this and to chenille. It’s called “worming” and you’ve actually done some of the things to lessen the effect (smaller size needle, garter stitch).

I wonder if you could work some of the loops into nearby sts? It really a very pretty blanket and so kind of you to make these donations.

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Thank you for replying! I’d never heard of that before, but this yarn is new to me and somewhat slippery, so it makes total sense. I HATE knitting with chenille because of its slippery nature, it’s so hard to keep the tension even. Part of me wonders if it’d be worth it to just reknit on a smaller needle. The blanket is toddler sized now. If I went to an 11 or 10.5, I think I’d have enough yarn to still make the baby size. I’m just amazed they recommended such a large size! I will try working a few of the loops in and see how long it takes.

Thank you!!

Hello
How generous of you to knit for donations.
If it was me I’d leave it as it is. Yes it’s not as perfect as you might like but if there’s a chance of this blanket “worming” as salmonmac has identified, well it could well happen at every wash and if someone is going to take this home they might as well know from the off that there are some loose loops rather than find out later and be disappointed about it or even feel like they caused it by washing incorrectly. At least this way they know what they’re getting and it’s still a lovely knit.
It’s perhaps not suitable for babies or toddlers with these loops as little fingers can get caught and blood supply stopped if yarn wraps a finger… maybe donate to a place which is jot specifically for toddlers? It would make a great lap blanket.

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Sometimes it is the yarn! I wouldn’t frog and reknit. I expect it would be worse to work with next time and so more of a pain. If you think it unsuitable for your donation for babies/children I bet you could find someone with a pet that would love to have it or there are places you can donate animal blankets.

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