Need help with first sweater

[Bethiegrace]

Hi, Im just looking for a little help. I am working on my first sweater. It is a hooded sweater and I am almost done but am stuck. I have just got to the the hood and it say's...

With RS facing and larger needles, pick up and K 46 sts around neck, starting at right side of neck and leaving center 14 sts free.

I am confused on what to do. How and where do I pick up the 46 stitches? Sorry to sound totally clueless. any help would be great.

Thanks,
Beth

[Susan P.]

There is a video here on picking up stitches but basically you are going around the top of what you've knitted and picking up stitches already made, on your needle, ready to work them. You are leaving some free either because there will be nothing more added there OR because something WILL be added there later. I gather you are about to make the hood section tho??

http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting...iques/misc.php

[Bethiegrace]

Thanks, I watched the video. I am going to try and knit the hood.

[Susan P.]

Ahh.. I presumed that was it..and that the 14 stitches would be the front. I hope the video helped. I was always fazed about doing it but I found that this particular video gave great guidance and the actual 'doing' was easier than I thought.

[Bethiegrace]

I am confused on the pattern I have says to pick up the stitches at the right side of the neck and leaving center 14 sts free. I have a circle for the neck hole right now, Where do I pick up the stitches at. I know it says the right side but which stitch?

[Susan P.]

If you look at the front and count roughly 14 stitches right in the centre..you would start picking up the next stitch. What you could do, just for a visual guide to start with, is to get a strand of coloured cotton say and use a darning needle and loop this through either end of those 14 stitches. That will give you a visual guide spacing. Then, still just visually and with fingers or the top of your needle, go round and count from the end of that section you've marked and see if you can locate 46 stitches from that point back around to that other coloured cotton strand. I've made bags where sometimes I've had to skip a stitch here or there or indeed had to create an extra stitch. This can happen through a seaming error and so on or is sometimes the way the pattern is because you are effectively gathering the top together slightly. If you can easily count 46 then you now can get started and you've marked the 14 so you won't accidentally pick them up.

[Bethiegrace]

Well, I think I picked up the stitches correctly. Thanks for the advice. I threaded a different color yarn through the 14 stitches and then I looked at my vogue knitting book and it said for picking up stitches in a round neck, measure every 2 inches and mark with string or pin and then devide the number of stitches you need to pick up by the number of spaces. Now I am stuck on the next part of the pattern. Im not sure what it is saying.

Work in St st inc 6 sts evenly spaced across first row, until Hood measures 12" sts around neck.

I think it means I increase 6 sts on first row then knit in St st until hood measures 12". I dont get why it say 12" sts around neck. Any ideas?