Picking up stitches is a knitter’s way to avoid sewing on extra edgings. Pick up stitches along a horizontal edge by pulling up new loops along that edge and knitting a border right then and there. After you pick up stitches along a horizontal edge, you should barely see a transition.
Use this method when picking up stitches along a back neck edge and for the center front stitches that form the base of a round neckline.
With the RS facing, starting at the right end of the work, insert the needle into the first stitch (the V) from front to back just below the bound-off edge.
Make sure that your needle isn’t just going under the threads of the bound-off stitches but into the entire stitch below (the one you can see clearly).
Wrap the yarn around the needle just as if you were knitting and then pull a loop through.
You can secure the loose yarn end temporarily by tying it onto your knitting, or you can just keep picking up stitches and secure it later. After you pick up the first stitch, the yarn will be taut.
Repeat these steps, pulling through one loop in each stitch across the row.
Continue until you finish picking up all the stitches you need for your finished edge.
Turn your work around (so that the WS is facing you) and work the first WS row in your stitch pattern.
That’s all there is to it!
