Lots of knitters pick up stitches by grabbing a strand of yarn along the edge of their knitting and putting that strand on their needle as a stitch. This is not how picking up stitches is taught by most sources and will not work when you need to pick up more than one stitch per row of knitting.
![cardigan-overlap cardigan overlap](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cardigan_overlap_004.jpg)
This is how the fronts should overlap, and where to place the buttons.
I learned from expert sources many years ago how to pick up stitches neatly, without distorting the edge of your knitting. For this pattern, you need a large number of stitches for the front band, so that the front of the sweater does not pull up, but makes a nice curve.
Below are some photos of one way to pick up 2 stitches in one row.
I have used a contrast color yarn so that the stitches picked up are easy to see.
![pick_up_sts_1 picking up stitches](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pick_up_sts_1.jpg)
Step 1: The right needle tip is inserted under both sides of the edge stitch.
![pick_up_sts_2 picking up stitches](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pick_up_sts_2.jpg)
Step 2: Working yarn is wrapped around the tip of the right needle
![pick_up_sts_3 picking up stitches](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pick_up_sts_3.jpg)
Step 3: Here is the new stitch picked up. If you were picking up just one stitch at the end of this row, you would be finished.
![pick_up_sts_4 picking up stitches](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pick_up_sts_4.jpg)
Step 4: To pick up a second stitch in the same row, insert the tip of the needle under only one side of the same stitch in which you just picked up a stitch.
![pick_up_sts_5 picking up stitches](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pick_up_sts_5.jpg)
Step 5: Wrap the yarn around the tip of the needle.
![pick_up_sts_6 picking up stitches](/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pick_up_sts_6.jpg)
Step 6: And here is the second stitch picked up in the same row