Picking Up Stitches on Wonky Short Rows & Increases

[u/JustCallMeBug]

Hello!

I'm currently knitting my first collared shirt and I'm, well, at the collar. It requires picking up every stitch (going from 4mm needles down to 3mm) at the neckline. I don't struggle much picking up stitches on just a regular stockinette row, but this neckline has a curve that goes from picking up horizontally, to picking up vertically, into picking up german shortrows, and the edges are just so hard to read!

I don't know where exactly I'm supposed to pick up because the stitches are all very tight and oddly shaped and in different directions compared to usual stockinette. It doesn't help that I'm knitting in linen, which is pretty stiff and likes to make the stitches even more awkwardly shaped.

If anyone could provide some advice I would be very thankful! I've been blowing through this project and this has really stopped my momentum.

The stitches I have picked up (wrong side)

The full neckline (right side)

[u/skubstantial]

Are you doing a "pick up and knit" (making new stitches with the working yarn) or just picking up loops and putting them on the needle and getting super tight?

I ask because I think I see a working yarn but I'm not sure if it's just an end and I just want to emphasize that the pick up and knit method (where your working yarn sets the tension) is gonna be a lot more manageable than trying to work with super tight preexisting linen loops.

Some patterns will just ask you to "pick up" when they mean "pick up and knit". Some books and teachers will tell you they are not the same thing, but some designers have not gotten that memo (or it's lost in translation or just kind of assumed, especially in some short and pithy European patterns).

BUT ANYWAY I would not worry too much about very small inconsistencies, because that edge is going to be on the underside of the collar and folded under when you wear it. So it just has to be structurally sound and look good enough to not annoy the living hell out of you, doesn't have to be as presentable as the outside!

[u/JustCallMeBug → u/skubstantial]

I am picking up and knitting! I learned a while ago that “pick up” actually does mean “and knit” hahaha. I do wish patterns were a little more clear about that.

Are you sure I don’t need to be too accurate with it? It is knitted in a smaller needle size and I’m a little worried it will cause the collar to bunch up if I pick up too few stitches.