Pick Up Then Knit // Knitting Tutorial

For the Cocoknits Method of constructing a sweater, you will pick up stitches along the back of each shoulder and top of each sleeve. These pickups form the structure and foundation of the entire sweater. Because they are weight-bearing joins, the pick-up method must be as strong as possible. My technique for picking up stitches most closely imitates a seam and ensures a tight join without any gaps.
The direction to “pick up and knit” is often defined as inserting the right needle tip into the fabric, wrapping the working yarn, and pulling a loop through the fabric to create a live stitch. These stitches are picked up and knit one at a time, until you get to the end of the row.
Instead, I use a “pick up then knit” approach, which I have found creates the neatest and sturdiest results.
For complete instructions, please see the Special Techniques section of the Cocoknits Sweater Workshop book.
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[@Windy888City]

Hi Julie, I bought your workbook Cocoknits - it's fab, thank you - and am wading through it. This is my first foray into top down knitting and one thing I've noticed about your 'pick up then knit' is how neat your edge stitches are. I slip the first stitch to make a chain, which is usually fine, but with the putk it looks too loose Could you please do a video on the edging? Many thanks . . . :)x

[@EasyHandcrafts]

Amazing video!

[@catherinegiven5504]

Julie, Your method and worksheets are genius! I loved my second Cocoknits course with you a few weeks ago, and had a sense of power as I continued afterwards with my sample kid's sweater. I made it a pullover so it would go quickly. All was well and I thought about leaving the V-neck as it was, but then saw your ribbed V-neck instructional video. I did 2 things wrong!! First, I made the unfortunate assumption that I should pick up stitches a la your shoulder method, by stretching apart the valley of bars to knit. Then, in trying to salvage that mistake I inadvertently unraveled the back neck stitches. I live in a LYS desert! Is there anyone who can help me by phone or FaceTime? Or do you have suggestions? Thank you! Catherine

[@CocoknitsVideos]

Hi Catherine, sorry things got sticky, but it is great that you are using your class sweater to learn so much! The tutorials "How to Pick Up Stitches for a Button Band or Collar" and "How to Pick Up Stitches Around a Neckline" demonstrate the Pick Up, Count, then Knit technique that Julie recommends for those areas. We're also hoping that her newer tutorials on how to fix dropped stitches will help you with your neck stitches: "How to Fix Dropped Stitches Parts I-V." These are all available under Learn at Cocoknits.com and include written directions as well. Also, some yarn shops offer online knitting classes--that might be worth looking into for you.

[@catherinegiven5504]

@@CocoknitsVideos Yes, thank you! I'll check into shops' online classes. And I'm eager to start a new Cocoknits sweater. Probably Tilda this time!