A trick for picking up stitches around the neck... so you have to pick up "so many" stitches evenly around? Tie a little scrap of yarn through a stitch every inch or so around the neck, and pick up an even number between each piece of yarn. If you have to pick up say 80 stitches, and if there are 10 spaces between the scrap yarn, pick up 8 in every space.
