Picking up and Knitting Stitches
December 24, 2013
Picking up stitches sounds intimidating but let’s work through it! The following example is a sock but the principles are the same when picking up stitches from stockinette no matter the project.
::: how to pick up stitches :::
To pick up stitches you need the right side of your work facing you (the knit side).
Step 1: Insert your needle into the stitch or between rows (from RS to WS)
Step 2: Loop the yarn around your needle (at the back of work)
Step 3: Pull the loop through to the RS (using the needle tip, as though you were knitting a stitch)Now you will have a stitch on your right hand needle. You have picked up a stitch!
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Making this harvest cardigan now and wondering when picking up stitches along the collar do you pick up both strands of the stitch or one strand? Thank you
Hi Gina – I usually go in both strands, I find it makes for a cleaner pick up.
I’ll do the same then thank you
how do you pick up and knit on a circular needle
Hi Barbara – it is exactly the same as a DPN or a straight needle
I’m not sure I understand the pick up xx stitches every xx rows. This needs a bit of clarification. I had picked up all 70 stitches and then took them out realizing it wasn’t right.
To pick up x sts for x rows you will pick up a few sts in each row then skip a row. If, for example, you are picking up 3 sts for 4 rows, you would pick up a stitch in each row for 3 rows, then skip one row, then pick up 3 sts in each row for 3 rows, then skip 1 row, etc.
Thanks for your tutorials – I’m about to knit my first cardigan, Harvest Knit. Could you please explain to me how to pick up xx stitches every xx rows? Does it mean I’m not picking up every available stitch? Won’t this leave holes in the cardigan?
Did you ever get it figured out?
hey Sarah. I had a hole issue. Maybe I did something wrong as I knit contin etnal but I had the feeling that the fourth (skipped) stitsch left a rather large hole. In the end it wasn’t a disaster, but it’s not as neat as I would like…
Qué fácil lo haces! Muchas gracias