Picking up and knitting stitches is a very common knitting technique and also one that can cause a bit of stress as it can be a little cumbersome of a task. If you’ve had issues picking up stitches, then you may want to try the crochet hook trick!
Picking up and knitting with a crochet hook can be such a help because the hook helps to grab the yarn and easily scoop it through the stitch.
I thought it would be helpful to create a video tutorial that walks you through exactly how to do this when picking up along a vertical edge (for a Front Band for example or an Armhole trim, when you are instructed to pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows). And don’t worry – you don’t need to know a thing about crocheting to use this technique. All you need is a crochet hook! You just need to make sure that the hook you are using corresponds to the weight yarn you are using (or smaller). Watch my tutorial below to learn more!
In the video I show you how you can transfer the stitches from the crochet hook onto the circular knitting needle just by sliding the stitches off the other end of the crochet hook. But, as I also noted in the video, you can instead transfer each stitch one at a time onto the circular, right after you pick it up with the crochet hook. You would just pull the loop through and then place it right onto the circular needle.
I hope you find this trick helpful the next time you need to pick up and knit stitches! And if you’re brand new to the subject of picking up stitches in your knitting, check out my tutorial here.