How to pick up stitches

[Originally posted by Rooty]

Well this is what the pattern says:

Edgings, top and lower edgings (both alike)

"with rs facing, using 3&1/4mm needles pick up and knit 114 sts evenly along the edge of the blanket." The rest of the pattern is knitted with 4mm needles, i've got a 3mm circular needle which is 80cm long do you think its worth getting a 3&1/4mm needle? I'm abit worried about the "pick up and knit 114 sts evenly", is there a good method of doing this, do you work out by the stitches how often you pick up a stitch honestly i haven't a clue the blankets cast on is 123 stitches and 154 rows. I just don't understand it, maybe i'm being a bit dim lol. I think i'll be browsing the recommended links soon.

Then the pattern starts:

**1st Row. Knit (simple enough)

2nd Row. K1, pick up loop between last and next st and work into the back of this loop (this will now be referred to as M1), knit to last st, M1, k1

3rd Row. Knit

[section of pattern deleted]

126sts.

Cast off knitways

(I've highlighted the bits i dont understand, and probably won't until i come to do it/am shown.) i don't know if im having an off day but what does the 126sts at the end mean? and the m1 is a bit mystifying!

Then it goes on to explain side edgings both alike which is the same as top and lower edgings. then 146sts. cast off knitways. Does this mean if you're doing top and lower and side edgings seperate that you don't use a circular? Actually looking at it now aswell im not really anywhere near finished bloomin hell!

and thanx for the info on casting off Hecate.

[Originally posted by Rooty]

Just had a quick look on knittinghelp and theres a vid for picking up stitches hooray! Haven't got time to look at it though as i better start getting ready for work. Hecate i have a feeling i might be boring us all with picking up stitches for awhile so if you want to move these posts from the pics of what we're working on to a new thread, i don't mind. I know i've posted in the wrong bit also if i shouldn't really have posted all the edging instructions of the pattern feel free to delete it.

Rooty, I've had to repost your original posts (if that makes sense!) because I couldn't move them to a different thread. That's why it looks like I posted them .

Also, I've deleted the bit of the pattern in between the sections that you don't understand, just to be on the safe side.

..."with rs facing, using 3&1/4mm needles pick up and knit 114 sts evenly along the edge of the blanket." The rest of the pattern is knitted with 4mm needles, i've got a 3mm circular needle which is 80cm long do you think its worth getting a 3&1/4mm needle?...

I'd be tempted to buy the 3 1/4 mm needle. I don't think it would make that much difference, but to be honest I'm not sure. Using a smaller needle than the one specified in the pattern would have the effect of tightening up your stitches. As you're knitting the blanket edging, you don't want any puckering. You could give it a try with the 3 mm, but be prepared to do some ripping out if it starts to look a little tight.

...I'm abit worried about the "pick up and knit 114 sts evenly", is there a good method of doing this, do you work out by the stitches how often you pick up a stitch...

There are a couple of ways of doing this. You could do what I'd generally do, and bodge it slightly . Which means that every so often you'd pick up every other stitch, instead of every stitch along the edge, until you have 114 stitches picked up. Just make sure you space it evenly-ish.

The other way is to measure the length of the edge along which you're picking up the stitches. Say the length is 38 inches. You need to pick up 114 stitches. 114/38 = 3. So, you'd pick up three stitches per inch of the edge.

...2nd Row. K1, pick up loop between last and next st and work into the back of this loop (this will now be referred to as M1), knit to last st, M1, k1...

This is a Make 1 (M1) increase. It involves creating an extra stitch in between two stitches, by using the left needle to pick up the strand of yarn between the two stitches. You knit into the back loop instead of the usual front loop to twist the stitch, and so avoid the formation of a hole.

If you imagine that you've just used the left needle to pick up the yarn between two stitches. It's sat on the needle like an upside down U. The back loop is the bit of the U that's furthest away from you, on the other side of the needle.

If that didn't make sense, there's a video of the M1 increase here (it's called M1F (Make One Front) on that site).

...126sts....

This just means that you should have 126 stitches by the time you get to the end of the row.

...Does this mean if you're doing top and lower and side edgings seperate that you don't use a circular? ...

No. The reason you're using a circular needle is because it's nice and long. Some edgings can be made by joining the round, but it looks like in this case you'll be knitting each side of the edging separately. The circular needle will just give you the space to pick up all the stitches.

Just had a quick look on knittinghelp and theres a vid for picking up stitches hooray!...

If you have any trouble after looking at the video, just post on here. Picking up stitches is really easy; I'm sure you'll be fine .

Thanx for all that Hecate, much appreciated. Will probably buy a 3 1/4 mm needle, just to be on the safe side. Will hopefully be starting this section after the weekend then. M1 still sounds abit scary but i'm hoping it'll all just make sense when i've watched the video (heres hoping)!

Thanx for all that Hecate, much appreciated. Will probably buy a 3 1/4 mm needle, just to be on the safe side. Will hopefully be starting this section after the weekend then. M1 still sounds abit scary but i'm hoping it'll all just make sense when i've watched the video (heres hoping)!

Don't worry. The video showing the M1 method is really clear. It's straight forward once you've got the hang of it .

Well..i've just picked up 114 sts as evenly as possible (abit hard when theres 123 cast on) it looks ok. One question though...i was quite unsure (and still am) about the yarn, i haven't used any yarn joined into the main body of the blanket basically i just added yarn to start the edging by holding it so one end is not secured at all - i didn't know what i was meant to do i was thinking i could try and sew it in to the side edge to secure it. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, if i've done it wrong i can rip it out and do it again.

Well..i've just picked up 114 sts as evenly as possible (abit hard when theres 123 cast on) it looks ok. One question though...i was quite unsure (and still am) about the yarn, i haven't used any yarn joined into the main body of the blanket basically i just added yarn to start the edging by holding it so one end is not secured at all - i didn't know what i was meant to do i was thinking i could try and sew it in to the side edge to secure it. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, if i've done it wrong i can rip it out and do it again.

No, that's fine. How you've worked with the yarn is almost exactly how I do it.

What makes starting off a little easier is to pick up three or four stitches, then thread the tail end of the yarn onto a tapestry needle and weave it into the back of the work, just as you'd do ordinarily when finishing off. It just makes the yarn a little more secure at the beginning edge while you're working. It's not crucial that you do this though, as you can easily weave in the ends once you've finished picking up the stitches.

At the other end, you simply weave in the yarn again. The only thing to make sure is that you do it nice and securely; more so than when you're just finishing off as usual. The woven in bit has of course got to secure that final picked up stitch.

There might be another way of securing the ends of yarn, but that's the way I've done it.

Thanx very much for the speedy reply! Phew not done it 'wrong'! At least if i go wrong say on the M1 bit it won't be so difficult to rip out as it wont be really well attached to the main bit at the moment.