How To Pick Up And Knit Stitches
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS THAT SUPPORT HANDY LITTLE ME CONTENT AND FREE PATTERNS.This blog post will look at how to pick up and knit stitches.
I often get emails from readers who are knitting one of my baby bootie patterns and they want to know how they can pick up and knit stitches for the foot part of the pattern.
This post will show you how to do this through step-by-step photographs and a video tutorial.
This is an important skill to have that you can apply to many different knitting patterns like garment necklines, a sweater armhole, shawls, blankets, and sock heels.
How To Pick Up Stitches In Knitting
If you don’t know how to pick up and knit stitches, this tutorial will help you to do that.
In many projects you are often asked to pick up stitches, to add pockets, neckbands, or in one of my patterns the foot section of a baby bootie.
In some patterns, it will say to ‘pick up and knit‘ however many stitches and can be abbreviated to PUK.
The process of picking up stitches is like this;
- Make sure you read the pattern to see how many stitches you need to pick up.
- See where you need to pick up the stitches so that you can evenly space them out in the space that you have.
- Push your needle under both parts of the V of the stitch on the edge of the work.
- Just make sure that you are picking up stitches straight across the work and don’t pick them up from different rows.
Video Tutorial
There is a video tutorial to help you.
How To Pick Up And Knit Stitches Along An Edge
Learn how to pick up and knit stitches along any edge—perfect for button bands, collars, and finishing cardigans.
If you are picking up stitches along an edge of knitting, you will be required to pick up stitches from a side edge.
This is known as the selvedge of your knitting.
Once you pick up a stitch along the edge of the work, you will have to knit it so it looks like a normal stitch.
This can be done by using one needle, or you can pick up the stitch with one needle and knit it into the other.
In the photographs and video tutorial, you will see how to do this using one needle with easy baby booties – How To Knit Baby Booties (Step By Step)
Supplies used for this tutorial
- 4 mm/US 6 Knitting needles
- Cotton yarn (DK or light worsted will do)
Abbreviations
- RS – right side
- RH – Right hand
Time needed: 1 day, 2 hours and 30 minutes
How To Pick Up And Knit Stitches
- Step 1: Identify Where to Pick Up
Identify the edge where you need to pick up and knit stitches—this might be along a cast-on edge, bind-off edge, garter stitch edge, or even a diagonal edge, depending on your project (like a cardigan, collar, or button band).
Look for the bumps or strands of the edge stitch—these are the best places to insert your needle for an even, clean finish.
In the photo below:
With the right side (RS) of your fabric facing you, insert your right-hand (RH) needle from front to back into one of the edge stitches, going under both strands.
You can see the loop forming on the needle in the image. The working yarn is held to the right, ready to wrap and pull through.
- Step 2: Insert Needle Through Edge
With the right side of your knit fabric facing you, insert your needle from front to back—either through the center of the stitch or between the stitches along the edge.
The placement can vary based on your pattern instructions or the finished look you’re aiming for.
In the photo below:
Wrap the working yarn around the tip of your needle and pull the yarn through to the right side to create your first stitch. This is your first picked-up stitch.
In this tutorial, I’m using waste yarn in a contrasting color to clearly show how the new stitches are being formed on the edge of the fabric. - Step 3: Wrap Yarn and Pull Through
Using your working yarn (often the same yarn or a long tail if specified), wrap the yarn around your needle as if to knit.
Pull it through to create a picked-up stitch.
Keep your tension even to avoid puckering. - Step 4: Repeat Along the Edge
Continue picking up and knitting across the edge.
You may need to adjust your stitch gauge, especially on curved or angled edges like collars or diagonal edges, to avoid creating too many or fewer stitches than needed.
Pro tip: For bound-off edges, aim for one stitch per bound-off stitch. F
or vertical edges (like cardigan fronts), a good rule of thumb is to pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows. - Step 5: Check Stitch Count
Make sure the total number of picked-up stitches matches your pattern’s instructions—especially important for button bands, collars, or any edge that needs precise shaping.
Please note: For the baby booties pattern, you pick up a number of stitches along the side (for example – 7 stitches) then knit across the top section of stitches, next, picking up and knit a further 7 stitches and finally knit across the remaining stitches. - Step 6: Knit as Directed
Once all stitches are picked up, follow your pattern to continue knitting. You may be adding a ribbed edging, shaping a neckline, or attaching a sleeve depending on the circumstances and free pattern you’re using. Always refer to your tutorial or pattern for edge-specific adjustments.
Picking up stitches neatly can make a big difference in how professional your finished piece looks.
Please note: For the baby booties pattern, when you have all of the stitches on your needle, you will be ready to continue knitting the foot section of the baby booties.
A Few Tips For Picking Up Stitches
I hope that this post has helped you to learn how to pick up stitches, and here are a few things to remember when you are picking up any stitches;
- Evenly-spaced stitches will give you a smoother edge. Count the stitches and compare them to how many you need to pick up from the pattern instructions. This will allow you to see how you will space them out.
- If you space them unevenly or they don’t look right in any way, just pull them out and start again.
- If you have a large project like a blanket or shawl, you will need to use a long circular needle to accommodate all of the stitches.
- Picking up stitches in your knitting to create a border or shape is different than picking up a dropped stitch in your knitting. This requires a different technique, where you can fix a dropped stitch by using a crochet hook.
- It’s a good general rule to go down a needle size when you ate picking up stitches so you don’t damage the existing stitches.
- Having some removable stitch markers handy can be a good idea so when you count out where you will pick up a stitch you can mark it and won’t have to count each time.
Practice makes perfect!
If you are just starting out, you might find this technique challenging, and it can be, but practicing is always a good idea.
Your first knit and purl stitch probably didn’t look amazing, but you got it there by practicing.
If you love making garments, you will probably meet this technique a lot in your knitting journey, so there are many good reasons to test this technique out.
A blanket pattern will be an excellent excuse to practice!
Plus, if you are feeling a little nervous that you will mess up your existing work, making a test swatch to practice your pick-up and knit moves can go a long way.
If you want to learn more about the knitting basics, please visit this post – Knitting Lessons.
Other knitting techniques to pick up and knit stitches
Depending on what exactly you are making and what knitting stitch you are using there are different ways you can pick up live stitches.
- For example, If you are knitting in the stockinette stitch you will need to pick up stitches differently than you would do on a garter stitch fabric.
- The garter stitch creates a bigger amount of stitches per inch so it makes sense to pick up a stitch per two rows, (insert the tip of the needle in each garter ridge).
- On the other hand, the stockinette stitch has a smaller row gauge so you are going to pick up around three stitches per four rows.
- If you want to pick stitches along a vertical edge you will need to do slightly different than you would do on horizontal edges.
- If you want to pick up stitches purlwise you will need to use a different method than you would do knitwise.
The differences are not big whether you are taking a different direction or you are working on the wrong side.
Clean and straight lines and edges will make you look like a pro, and your knitted piece looks more well-rounded and complete.
