Picking Up Stitches (Horizontal Edges) by Binka Schwan

Picking Up Stitches (Horizontal Edges) by Binka Schwan

Skill Building Winter 2023

This is the first of three Skill Building articles that will address picking up stitches on various edges of a knitted garment. This can seem a daunting task to a knitter, but picking up stitches is easy to do if the proper technique is understood. The key to picking up stitches is to know how many stitches to pick up and why, and this varies depending on the type of edge you are working with. This article will address horizontal edges as seen on a neckline (bind-off edge) or bottom of a knitted garment (cast-on edge.) Vertical edges are at the selvedges and are seen at cardigan sweater fronts. Finally, curved edges, which are a combination of both horizontal and vertical edges, can be seen in a neckband for a pullover or V-neck sweater. Vertical and curved edges will be addressed in the next two articles.

Picking up stitches from the bind-off edge is the easiest technique to do as one stitch is picked up for every bound-off stitch. Arenda Holladay has this video showing picking up stitches at the bind-off edge. I urge you to watch this video.

Figure 1 shows an example of a stockinette swatch with the bind-off edge at the top and cast-on edge at the bottom. This orientation is like the back piece of a knitted garment with the bind-off edge being the back neck edge. The stitches will be picked up from each bound-off stitch so that a decorative knitted neckband can be attached. The most common band pattern is either a single or double rib, but the band could be any other stitch pattern, such as seed stitch or double moss stitch. The key is to ensure that there are the correct number of picked up stitches to work the desired stitch pattern for the band. Written patterns, with specific directions for the band, will tell you the correct number of stitches to pick up, but if you decide to change the band pattern to something different, you must determine if the stitch pattern will work with the number of stitches picked up on the garment pieces.

For the purposes of this article, a single rib will be the neckband pattern of choice. The sample swatch has a total of 16 rows with 20 stitches in each row, which means that 20 stitches will be picked up on the bind-off edge in preparation for the single rib neckband. Stitches are always picked up with the public side of the garment or swatch facing and working from right to left.

Figure 1: Stockinette swatch with BO edge at top

Figure 2 shows that 8 stitches have been picked up correctly across the bind-off edge of the swatch. The blue arrows are placed within the stitch columns and point to the new stitch on the needle. You can see that this stitch flows from the body of the swatch onto the needle with the stitch columns intact. When looking at stitch columns in Figure 2, you can see that each column is composed of stitches resembling a V. The new stitches were picked up in the center of the V, or the center of the stitch. If you are unfamiliar with looking at the stitches as rows and columns of V’s, I suggest you refer to my Skill Building article in the Spring 2017 edition of Cast On, “The Knit and Purl Stitch–Stockinette Fabric.” This article will help you understand the stockinette stitch anatomy relevant to picking up stitches correctly.

Figure 2: Eight stitches picked up correctly on BO edge

Many knitters will pick up stitches directly under the bind-off loops. This is not correct, and the new stitches will not line up with the stitches in the swatch or garment. Pinched stitches, or “dreaded 11’s” will occur, which results in the stitch columns being broken by the new stitches.

Figure 3 shows what happens if stitches are picked up under the bind-off loops. This swatch shows 8 new stitches on the needle, but the placement of these stitches is now between stitch columns rather than within the stitch. The arrow points show how the stitch at the end of each stitch column has been pinched together because of the incorrect stitch pick up procedure. These pinched stitches resemble the number 11, and that is why they are called the dreaded “11’s.” Picking up stitches under the bind-off loops would not show the new stitches flowing directly from the garment stitches, and the single rib neckband would be offset. Now that we know what not to do, how do we get the correct result when picking up stitches on the horizontal bind-off edge?

Figure 3: Stitches picked up incorrectly

Figure 4 shows that five stitches have been picked up, starting at the right edge and including the right selvedge stitch. Note that the stitches are flowing from the middle of each stitch column and that there are no pinched stitches as seen in Figure 3. The arrow points to where the next stitch would be picked up. Since there are 20 stitches in the swatch, 20 stitches will be picked up, all directly under the bind-off edge and within each stitch on the swatch.

Figure 4: Five stitches correctly picked up

To pick up the next stitch, the working needle would be inserted into the middle of the stitch which the arrow indicates in Figure 4. The needle would be inserted from front to back, into the center of the stitch directly below the bind off edge. This can be seen in Figure 5 with the arrow now pointing to the needle inserted into the stitch.

Figure 5: Needle placement for picking up next stitch

Starting with the working yarn in the back, bring the yarn forward and over the needle as shown in Figure 5. This will form a loop that will be pulled through the stitch on the needle as if you are knitting. The new picked-up stitch made on the right needle can be seen in Figure 6. Repeat this process until all stitches across the bind-off edge have been picked up. Please refer to Arenda’s video on picking up stitches on a bind-off edge so you can see this process in real time.

Figure 6: New stitch formed on needle

If you continue in this manner across the bind-off edge of this swatch—picking up one stitch for every stitch in the row—there will be 20 new stitches on the needle, ready for the single rib or stitch pattern band of your choice.

All stitches that were picked up can be seen in Figure 7. Note that the arrows show that all the stitches were picked up within each stitch—not between stitch columns—and that the stitch columns flow from the base swatch to the picked-up stitches.

Figure 7: All stitches picked up correctly

Finally, Figure 8 shows the single rib band in progress. Note how all picked-up band stitches flow from each stitch column of the base swatch. The blue arrows within the knit stitch columns show the correct flow of stitches from the base fabric to the band.

Figure 8: Correct flow of stitches

I’ve also worked an incorrectly picked-up single rib band; the result is shown in Figure 9. In this figure, the blue arrows are placed correctly within the stitch columns, but the stitches have not been picked up from there! The green arrows between the stitches show where they were picked up under the bind-off loops. Note that the stitches do not flow from the base swatch to the band.

Figure 9: Incorrect flow of stitches

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Caption: Figure 9: Incorrect flow of stitches

If you compare Figures 8 and 9, I think you can see the difference between the correctly picked-up stitches and the incorrectly picked-up stitches. Make certain you always pick up stitches within each stitch and not between stitches.

We’ve discussed picking up stitches from the bind-off edge, but when and how are stitches picked up from a cast-on edge? Stitches from a cast-on edge would be picked up to add an edging to a scarf worked horizontally or to edges of a baby blanket, or for the neckband of a sweater that has been knit from the top down. The stitches would still be picked up from the center of each stitch, directly from within the stitch column so that the picked-up stitches flow from the fabric to the edging. This is identical to what we did for the bind-off edge. But there is a difference!

Figure 10: Single rib bands with BO edge at top

Figure 10 shows a swatch with bands where the stitches have been picked up on both the bind-off and the cast-on edges for the single rib edging. In this swatch, the bind-off edge is at the top. The blue arrows pointing upward show that the stitches at the bind-off edge have been picked up correctly, and the stitch columns flow from the base fabric to the ribbing. But note the arrows pointing downward to the cast-on edge in this figure. You can see that the stitches were not picked up in the same column as that of the bind-off edge. The picked-up stitches on the cast-on edge are a half stitch off from the picked-up stitches on the bind-off edge. The stitch columns from the bind-off edge become the spaces between the picked-up stitches at the cast-on edge.

Figure11: Single rib bands with CO edge at top

But look what happens when we make the cast-on edge the top of the swatch. Figure 11 shows the same swatch, but upside down, with the cast-on edge on top. The knit stitches flow from the swatch to the ribbing just as from the bind-off edge. But if you look at the bind-off edge at the bottom of this swatch, you can see how the stitches from the cast-on edge become the spaces between stitches at the bind-off edge.

This video, also by Arenda Holladay, demonstrates picking up stitches on a cast-on edge. I urge you to watch this video also.

The number of stitches picked up on the cast-on edge in flat knitting is always one less than the stitches picked up from the bind-off edge. While the technique is the same for both bind-off and cast-on edges, the cast-on edge can be trickier as you are looking at the knitting upside down. Treat this edge the same as you would the bind-off edge and pick up stitches within each stitch column at that edge. But there is a difference on this edge; as noted, there will always be one less stitch picked up. This problem does not occur when knitting in the round.

Figure 12: BO edge at top with 15 stitches picked up

Figure 12 shows a swatch of 8 rows and 15 stitches. The bind-off edge, at the top, shows that 15 stitches have been picked up and are on the needle. But there are 14 stitches on the needle at the cast-on edge. All stitches picked up on the bind-off edge flow from the swatch to the needle within each stitch column. But if you look at the cast-on edge, it appears that the stitches have been picked up between the stitches instead of within. But look what happens when the swatch is turned upside down.

Figure 13: CO edge at top with 14 stitches picked up

Figure 13 shows the same swatch, but this time the cast-on edge is on the top. Note that there are 14 stitches on the needle, but also note that the stitches flow from the swatch to the picked-up stitches within each stitch column. Whether you are picking up stitches on the bind-off edge or the cast-on edge, look for the stitch column and pick up the stitches within each stitch. Your result will be perfect!

I hope this article has given you all you need to pick up stitches on a horizontal edge! The next article in the series will show how to pick up stitches on a vertical edge.


Pattern Associated with Article — So Simple

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