picking up and knitting stitches
Ok, so I am befuddled.
This is dd's hoodie. The pattern is lion brand homespun hooded sweater...
The instructions say, for the hood part,
HOOD
With RS facing and larger needles, pick up and k 38 sts around neck, starting at right side of neck and leaving center 10 sts free. Work in St st for 9½"; inc 8 sts evenly spaced across first row 46 sts around neck. Placing half of Hood sts on second needle, work 3-needle bind off across Hood top seam.
Facing edging With RS facing and smaller needle, pick up approximately 59 sts around front edge of Hood. Work in k1, p1 rib for 4 rows. Work in St st for 4 rows. Bind off loosely on last row with larger needle. Sew rib/roll Front at center neck, overlapping center fronts (left over right for male; right over left for female).
(I left the numbers only for the size I'm making in, to make it easier to read)
Ok, my first thought is HUH?
They say starting at the right side neck edge. So my ? is, the edge of the 10 free sts (which is what I did in the pic) or the seam where the back starts? It doesn't seem logical to do that, which is why I did what I did. Ok, then it says I should pick up 38 sts. That isn't very many to go all the way around the neck edge--I *can* pick up (evenly) about 14 sts from the front marker to the shoulder seam. That would mean that I have to pick up another 14 on the other side, and you can see my concern that I'm picking up waaay more stitches than they said to...
I have half a mind to just wing it.
But if you are so inclined to help, that would be most appreciated!
To top it off (and picking up sts is hard and one of the things I suck most at), I have to pick up sts AGAIN to make the hood facing. They hate me, they really really hate me...