Beginner help with picking up neck edge

[pearlypiglet]

Hi everybody,

I've been using this forum for a while now just reading other posts, so I figured it was time to sign up!

I realise this question has been asked previously so I'm sorry for asking it again, but I couldn't find exactly what I needed in another thread.

I'm a super beginner knitter, i.e. this is the first non-scarf or hat project I've ever done. I'm knitting a baby sweater, in Sirdar Snowflake Chunky (which makes seeing the stitches really hard when you make a mistake!).

I've gotten to the point where I need to pick up neck edge stitches in order to create the neck band.

It says to pick up 24 stitches along the left hand edge of the neck. I have looked at videos and read tutorials, but I don't understand this:

Do I judge by eye where to pick up a stitch? And evenly space them so that along the entire left edge there are 24 stitches onto my needle? Or is there a more precise way for me to decide where to pick up a stitch?

Also, the neck is a V-neck, so the V edge that I'm picking up on is decreased as it goes up to the shoulder. I don't even know what loops I should be picking in to, and with this wool that is super fluffy I cannot see the stitches very well. Any advice on how to pick up the stitches is VERY much appreciated. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Thanks so much, and have a great weekend,
Gracie.
XOXO