Knitch Magazine

You followed the pattern instructions, dutifully cast off the center stitches and shaped a graceful curved neckline. Knowing the neckline trim will be up front and center, an immediate point of emphasis right under your chin, you want to avoid a clumsy pick up line. On the first try, you couldn’t get the recommended number of stitches and discovered holes around the neckline where the ribbing didn’t quite meet the body. How now to pick up the stitches for the neckline ribbing?

“Reading” the stitches of your knitting means that you can distinguish the right side from the wrong side, horizontal from vertical stitches, and that you can follow the stitches in rows and columns. Study your knitting or gauge swatch. It might help to pin out rows and columns to practice counting for gauge. A gauge swatch will come in handy for calculating numbers of stitches to pick up. If you didn’t make a gauge swatch, pin out a square on your knitting to calculate gauge for picking up stitches. Make note of the number of stitches per 4 inches and the number of rows per 4 inches. Divide these numbers by 4 to arrive at the number of stitches per inch (horizontal gauge) and number of rows per inch (vertical gauge) in your knitting. Do not rely on the suggested pattern gauge for this step, but calculate your own gauge for this step.

Take a close look at your knitting. Are you picking up stitches along a horizontal edge as in the center front neckline? Are you picking up stitches along a vertical edge as in a button band on a cardigan? Is it a diagonal edge as in the corners of a rounded neckline or the curve of a sleeve? The number of stitches you pick up will vary, depending on whether you are picking up along a horizontal, vertical or diagonal edge.

Work from right to left to pick up stitches from the right side of the work, knitting them as you go. Knit all the stitches as you pick them up. Move on to the edging pattern such as ribbing or seed stitch in the second row after picking up stitches. For the pick up row only, it is helpful to use a needle that is one to two sizes smaller than the working needle. This avoids stretching out the edge and makes picking up the stitches a little easier. Some knitters are more comfortable using a crochet hook to pick up the stitches; this can be done by hooking up the stitches onto the crochet hook, then sliding them onto a knitting needle. Another method is pull the yarn in a loop through the fabric with the crochet hook and slide the loop onto the right knitting needle, adjusting tension as you go along.

The first step to picking up stitches is to find the center stitch on the pick up edge. Use a coil-less safety pin or stitch marker to mark the center stitch. Now mark half the distance between the center stitch and each end (one-quarter sections). Divide the total number of stitches to be picked up along this edge by 4. Use this as a guide so that you pick up stitches evenly along the entire edge.

As common sense dictates, you generally pick up one stitch for each stitch along a horizontal edge. If you used a provisional cast on, you will carefully remove the waste yarn and place the free stitches on the needle. If you are picking up over a cast off edge, you will pick up and knit one stitch for each chained loop in the cast off selvage. Poke the needle through the center of the stitch, under both strands of the cast off selvage, pull the yarn through in a loop and adjust tension on the right needle. Make sure you have picked up ¼ of the total stitches by the time you get to your first marker; adjust until you get it right. As a failsafe, you can add any necessary increases or decreases in the first row of knitting after picking up the stitches. Turn the work over to find a neat chain selvage along the pick up edge.

Refer back to your gauge swatch to determine the ratio of stitches to pick up along the vertical edge. Most knitting gauges have more stitches per inch horizontally than vertically. A general rule of thumb is to pick up 5 stitches for every 6 rows in stockinette stitch. The rate of pick up will need to be adjusted for very bulky or very fine knitting. Compare your horizontal stitch gauge to your vertical row gauge to get a general idea of how many stitches to pick up for an inch of vertical height, checking for accuracy at each quarter section marker. Note that garter stitches are nearly square; you will pick up at a rate of one stitch for each row in garter stitch.

Picking up stitches along a vertical edge will be much easier if you prepared in advance by using a chain selvage as you knit your pieces. Pick up one stitch for each chain selvage, bringing the loop of yarn under both sides of the chain selvage stitch. Recall that you slipped the first stitch every other row in making the chain selvage; therefore, each chain accounts for two rows. For a faster rate of pick up, insert the needle through the two ladders that form a row, making sure that the needle is also under the both strands of the chain selvage. When counting vertical rows, count the spaces between the ladders, not the chain selvage.

The rate of pick up along diagonal or curved edges is greater than along horizontal or vertical edges. Keep this in mind as you pick up along necklines, whether v-neck or curved. You will need to allow for more stitches per inch to fill in along the diagonal surface. Diagonal edges are often formed by bound off or decreased stitches. Pick up stitches directly under the edge stitches and along a straight diagonal line a few stitches in from the bound off edge. This will give a smooth line along the neckline and prevent holes. If you are having trouble with this line, try running a loose basting stitch using sewing thread or slippery yarn in a contrasting color. This will help you to develop a smooth line for picking up the stitches.

Check to be certain that the stitches are evenly distributed so that your neckline is symmetrical. This is not to say that you have the same number of stitches along the diagonal edge as the horizontal edge of a neckline, for example. Rather, you should have an equal number of stitches on each half of the neckline. The front neckline stitches should be centered on the sweater, with an equal number along each side of the neck and back neck stitches centered on the back of the sweater.

Neatness and consistency matter when picking up stitches. Check your progress regularly to be sure you are picking up stitches along a straight line and that you have distributed the stitches evenly along the edge. Before commencing to knit the edging, run your finger along the pick up edge to make sure it follows the knitting in a straight, even path and that you have picked up under both strands of the chain selvage. Check for holes and gaps. Correct any mistakes you find. When the garment is worn, no one will notice the pick up line.