How to Pick Up Stitches (Knitting)

Picking up stitches means growing new, live stitches along a finished edge — down a cardigan front, around a neckline, along an armhole — so a band or border can be knitted straight on, with no sewing and no raw edge left behind. The cricket test vest’s how-to pages teach it, our baby sweater set picks up its button bands with it, and the rugby jumper, the guernsey cushion and the Little Roo outfit all lean on it for their tidy, finished edges.

Step by step

Work with the right side of the piece facing you, starting at the right-hand end of the edge for right-handed knitting, and use the needle your pattern names — bands are often picked up on a size smaller than the body, which is what keeps them lying flat and firm.
The basic move, called “pick up and knit”: push the needle tip through the fabric at the edge, wrap the working yarn around it exactly as if you were knitting a stitch, and draw a loop through to the front. That loop is a brand-new live stitch, and you simply repeat your way along the edge.
Along a vertical (row-end) edge, go through both strands of the edge stitch, a full stitch in from the raw edge. Picking up through a single strand makes a lacy line of holes; going a stitch in keeps the band solid and the edge hidden behind it.
Along a horizontal cast-on or cast-off edge, pick up through the centre of each edge stitch — one new stitch for every stitch of the old edge, neat as a row of buttons. Neckline cast-offs and the guernsey cushion’s edging are worked exactly this way.
Trust the pattern’s number, not a one-for-one instinct: along row-end edges, stitches are wider than rows are tall, so patterns ask for roughly 3 stitches picked up for every 4 rows (in stocking stitch) — our patterns always state the exact count for each section, and that count is what makes the band fit the opening.
To land exactly on the count, divide before you start: halve and quarter the edge with pins or markers, then pick up a quarter of the total in each section. Even distribution beats hopeful counting, and a band that’s two stitches out overall is invisible, while one that’s ten out at the end is a pucker.
At corners — the turn of a button band into a neckband, say — pick up one stitch right in the corner point itself. Corners cut short pull the whole band into a smile; that one extra stitch lets it turn the bend and lie flat.
Keep each new loop snug against the fabric as you draw it through. Loose pick-ups leave a row of eyelets along the join, and strangling them puckers the edge — firm and even is the goal, the same as every other row you’ll ever knit.
Count your stitches before you knit the first band row, and if you’re a stitch or two adrift, forgive it quietly: add or skip one pick-up in the middle of a section on this first row. Bands are worked from these stitches exactly like any other row — proof that a finished edge is never really finished until it’s been picked up.

Patterns that use it

Cricket Test Vest and Baggy Green Beanie Knitting Pattern | Cable Knit Vest PDF, Green & Gold, Aussie, Digital Download

Baby Sweater Knitting Pattern | 4 Aussie Animal Sweaters and Cardigan PDF, Koala Wombat Platypus Kangaroo, Sizes 0-18 Months

Rugby Gold Jumper Knitting Pattern | Raglan Knit Sweater PDF, Deep Green Rib Trim, Bulky Knit, Aussie Rugby, Digital

Footy Guernsey Cushion Knitting Pattern | Green & Gold Jumper Cushion PDF, Aussie Rules, Digital Download

Little Roo Baby Outfit Knitting Pattern | Hooded Romper, Joey & Play Mat PDF

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Common mistakes

Picking up through only one strand of the edge stitch along a row-end edge. It leaves a lacy line of holes where the band meets the body — go through both strands, a full stitch in from the raw edge, and the band sits solid with the edge hidden behind it.
Picking up one stitch for every row along a vertical edge. Stitches are wider than rows are tall, so one-for-one gives you far too many and the band flares and ruffles; in stocking stitch the pattern’s count is roughly 3 stitches for every 4 rows.
Cruising along and hoping the count comes out, then finding you’re ten stitches over in the last few centimetres. Even distribution beats hopeful counting — a band two stitches out overall is invisible, but ten bunched at the end is a pucker.

Tina’s tips

Halve and quarter the edge with pins or markers before you pick up a single stitch, then work a quarter of the pattern’s total into each section. It takes half a minute and the band simply cannot drift.
Count before you knit the first band row, and if you’re a stitch or two adrift, forgive it quietly — add or skip one pick-up in the middle of a section on that first row and no one will ever know, including you in a month’s time.