Pick up and Knit: The Difference Is in the Details

Once you begin knitting more than scarves and hats, you soon encounter the following phrase: pick up and knit. Whether you’re adding the button band to a cardigan, adding sleeves to a drop shoulder pullover, or adding a decorative border to a wrap, picking up and knitting stitches evenly and consistently is key to a polished result.

We’ll look at picking up and knitting stitches in the edges of both stockinette stitch and garter stitch. We’ve used a contrasting color for picking up stitches on our samples so it’s easier to see.

Sandi knit a series of swatches to illustrate different selvedges for picking up stitches. All swatches were knit with Baa Ram Ewe’s Pip Colourwork, a 2-ply fingering-weight yarn spun from 100% British wool.

Spacing the Stitches

In determining how to space your new stitches, let the gauge be your guide. For our stockinette stitch swatch, the gauge is 24 sts and 32 rows = 4", or 6 sts and 8 rows = 1". When we pick up and knit stitches along the side edge, we’ll pick up 6 stitches for every 8 rows. Stated another way, we’ll pick up a stitch in three consecutive rows, then skip the fourth row.

Garter stitch usually has a gauge equivalent to 1 stitch for every 2 rows. Since 2 rows make 1 garter ridge, simply pick up and knit 1 stitch for each ridge.

If your pattern specifies the number of stitches to be picked up and knit along an edge, using the gauge as your guide should get you very close. If you find your stitch count is off by a few stitches, just sprinkle a few increases or decreases evenly across the next row to adjust the total stitch count.

Picking Up on Stockinette Stitch

On stockinette stitch, pick up and knit stitches in the space between the first and second column of stitches.