Trouble with picking up stitches

[susiessss]

Hi!

I’m a fairly new knitter and I’m a bit confused what this part means about joining the shoulder. Where does this go?

The pattern called for 4.5mm circular needles and I’ve knitted the 20cm in the round as the pattern said and now I’m not sure what to do. The pattern is: https://fridayknits.com/products/boxy-cardigan-knitting-pattern-1

[salmonmac]

You’re to pick up sts along the right shoulder so that you can knit the right front of the cardigan. The live sts on the needle should be put on a holder. You’re to pick up sts from the cast on (CO) edge.

As I understand it, the back is knit back and forth rather than in the round? Is that what you did?

[susiessss]

Yeah I did :(( Does that matter too much? Was it supposed to be flat?

[susiessss]

Thank you for going to the trouble of drawing a diagram. Super helpful :))

[ColoCro]

Using circular needles doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be knitting in the round. They are often used when there are too many stitches to knit flat on straight needles, or when part of the garment is knit in the round. If it was worked in the round there would have been an instruction to join the edges and place a marker for the beginning of the round. If it mentions turning and purling alternate rows, it’s usually meant to be knit flat. Another clue is if it’s written as “Rows” (back and forth) or “Rounds” (continuously knitting the same direction).

The back should be a flat rectangle. After you pick up stitches at the shoulder and knit both of the fronts, you’ll be joining at the sides, but still knitting flat and turning at the center fronts. Once you have the whole body, you’ll pick up for the sleeves and knit those in the round.