When picking up sts for a frond band, say 3sts to every 4 rows, does this still apply when it comes to the back of the neck (accross shoulders) when the rows become stitches instead?
thanks!
Most of the times I’ve seen something like this, you pick up stitches at a specified rate until you get to the neck and there you pick up all stitches. That has been my experience, limited as it is. I’m sure others will chime in on this to confirm or tell me I’m crazy and knitting something completely wrong. 
THanks astonh,
I’ve just done a quick calculation and this seems impossible.
The pattern calls for 82 sts to be picked up from lower left until start of neck shaping. I’ve managed to do this by picking up 3 sts every 4 rows.
From start of neck shaping to the shoulder seam i picked up 39sts in total. The pattern calles for 145 sts to be picked up from start of neck shaping on left side to right side. And there are 35 sts across the back of the neck. SO even if i picked up sts for sts at the back of the neck it still wouldnt add up ( 39+39+35=113) im 32 sts short!
I don’t know what to do!
I’ve had another try and the only way i can fit 145 sts around the neck from the start of the neck shaping on the left to the start of the neck shaping on the right is if I pick up every stitch all the way around.
Now my question is, is this normal considering that from the start of neck shaping down to the hem i was picking up 3 sts per 4 rows?
I am afraid it might look strange, bunch up or pucker and not lie flat.
Can anyone give some advice?
I’m stumped. Sorry. Never fear though… I"m SURE someone will be able to assist.
Thats ok Astonh, thanks for replying and commenting!
Can anyone else help?:sad:
Do you absolutely need to have 145 sts? What would happen if you just left it at 113? Or maybe you could add the extra 32 on the next row…
I really am afraid to leave out that many sts, 32 is quite a lot. I’d be ok if i got to 140 or something.
I’ve picked up every stitch from the start of the neck shaping to the shoulder seam and i still dont get enough. I don’t want to just start cramming in the extra sts anywhere, but i might just have to pick up every sts and hope that that will do the job.
Its just that everytime a pattern calls for something you’d think that you would be able to do exactly what they did to make it in the first place!
Which pattern is it, and is this for the neckband or a collar. I’m just thinking that in either case, you could go with picking up the smaller number and if you need more sts for fullness, inc them on the next row.
I can’t find the pattern on the internet. I’m not even sure what magazine its out of. This is what it says:
FRONTBAND:
With right side facing you, using circular needle and starting from the lower right front edge, pick up and k 82 sts along right front edge to start of neck shaping. 145sts around neck to start of left front neck shaping and 82sts along left front edge (309sts). k the next row. k1,p1 in ribbing for 5 rows
then it goes on about the buttonholes.
To me it sound like a lot of sts. THe cardigan is almost a V neck, so im just worried that altering the number of sts will alter the look of the neck.
Okay, you’re starting to pick up the 145 stitches where the V starts, right? Maybe your V isn’t as low as in the original pattern?
I think [COLOR=“RoyalBlue”][B]this[/B][/COLOR] is the pattern.
I think if you absolutely can’t get the whole 145 sts picked up there, get in as many as you can and call it good enough. You are using the smaller needles aren’t you? You can pick up one stitch in every row with them; on the neck back you could pick 2 instead of one in every other stitch.
OOHH!! that is the pattern! how did you find it on the net!?
I have gone with pickign up a sts every row and sts for sts on the back neck. I managed to pick up 113sts.
The 82 sts they tell you to pick up from the bottom left edge fit perfectly from the hem to the start of the v, its almost like they should have specifically instructed to pick up 3 sts every 4 rows!
then again saying that maybe in roder to pick up 145 sts aroundthe back i need to do a similar thing but pick up 2 sts in 1. say pick up 3 sts then 2 in1 and repeat from there?
At the moment I have 277 sts all together, I really dont know whether i shoud continue and go for it even if i risk having to rip it all out again. Or really try and figure out how to pick up 145 sts along the back.
Judging by the picture they provide do you think it would make a difference?
I think it should work out okay. I can’t really see the point of cramming them all in. It’s possible the pattern designer got a little bit different gauge that you did; with more rows per inch maybe they needed that many sts to make it look even. I think you should just keep going rather than battling with it - takes all the fun out of knitting.