Good morning everyone 
I am making these awesome slippers, http://www.purlbee.com/mary-jane-slippers/
or, at least I am trying to. I have made the sole, but this is my first time picking up stitches and I am having some problems.
[B]First question[/B], when I “pick up” the stitches in this pattern, am I [I]JUST[/I] picking up? Or am I picking up and knitting? I don’t really see how I can pick up the stitches on the heel and toe and not pick up and knit, but the pattern says to just pick up.
[B]Second question,[/B] the pattern says to pick up 3 for every 4 stitches up the sides, but I can’t evenly do that, the math doesn’t work out. Where exactly do I start picking up only 3 of 4 instead of every one?
[B]Third question,[/B] picking up the stitches! again, I have never done it, and this pattern is doing it in garter stitch. I found this excellent tutorial, http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2009/06/24/pickup_lines.html
the only issue is that it is from left to right? and it is just pick up, not pick up and knit which again becomes a problem when picking up the stitches in the toe and in the heel
am I doing something wrong? Please help knitting experts!
Its at times like these that I really wish that I had a mentor!
Thanks so much ahead of time for any help that anyone can offer! :knitting:
Mary Jane Slippers, Help please!
You pick and knit at the same time, really. Insert the R needle into a stitch on the edge (pretend it’s a L needle) and that’s pick up. To knit it, you wrap the yarn around and pull through. Do this from the R side around just the same way you’d knit the rounds (which answers Q 3.).
The pick up 3 out of every 4 is based on the st/row ratio which is usually 3 to 4, your may be 5 to 7, or 2 to 3 may work better. Try picking up 2 out of every 3 sts and see if that works for you, or just pick up the right number of stitches evenly around.