Knitty.com. Picking up stitches, picking up stitches...seems like no matter where you turn, you're being asked to pick up stitches. Sock heels, button bands, neck edgings, ear flaps, glove fingers, hat bands... knitting patterns are full of places where you want to add more stitches to an existing piece of knitting in order to knit in another direction or finish it off somehow. I get the impression that there's a bit of head scratching going on when knitters come across these instructions for the first time.
And to make the matters even more confusing, some instructions say to "pick up sts" while other instructions say to "pick up and knit sts". What's the difference? I've seen knitting patterns use the expression "pick up" a certain amount of stitches that were being held on a stitch holder or spare piece of yarn -- that's simply referring to returning them to your needles. There are, as always, several ways to pick up stitches depending on the area of knitting you're working on. Knitting Instructional Video - How To Pick Up Stitches. Knitting and Picking up stitches along an edge. Once the main body of the knitting has been completed, it is often necessary to add extra finishing rows for neck bands, button and buttonhole bands and other edgings.
Sometimes these sections are knitted separately and sewn on but it is quicker and neater to pick up stitches along the edge and knit directly onto these. To pick up stitches along a cast on, cast off or shaped edgeAlways working under a whole stitch (never through a single thread), insert the point of the knitting needle under the first stitch, pass the yarn round the needle and draw a loop through to form a stitch. Continue for as many stitches as are required (Fig.66). Back to Top To pick up stitches along side edgesTo work a button band on a cardigan, for example, insert the point of the knitting needle between the first and second rows 1 whole stitch in from the edge, pass the yarn over the needle and draw the loop through. All content provided by TB Ramsden & Co.
Knit Tutorial - Picking Up Stitches. When you pick up stitches, you are adding knit stitches to an existing work in order to expand the work. Why would you pick up stitches? A few good reasons: To lengthen or add embellishment to a knitted piece that has been completedTo add sleeves at an armholeTo add a neckbandTo add a button holeTo add edging or knitting to non-knitted itemsTo work in a "mosaic knitting" technique One thing you should consider when picking up stitches - especially when following pattern instructions. There is a difference between the instructions "Pick up stitches" and "Pick up and knit stitches". Picking up Stitches: Place existing loops onto your needle.
To pick up and knit stitches along cast on / bind off edge of work: To pick up and knit stitches along side of knitted work... To pick up and knit stitches in hairpin lace: To pick up stitches along a row of knitted work: Knitting needle conversion chart from Laughing Hens. How to Knit Pick Up Stitches.