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When picking up stitches I use my left thumb to slightly push up the cast on edge and I pick up the first complete stitch immediately under the cast on edge. I used orange arrows below to show you exactly where I'll be picking up sts.
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Another view of the process of picking up sts. I always look closely to make sure I'm picking up the stitch right in the center of the stitch.
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This is the side of the thumb so you can see the stitch I picked up along the side.
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Okay I'm off to answer questions in the comments. Whew - updating two blogs in one day with lots of photos that need dealing with is quite time-consuming. I think I'll do them on different days from now on.