Picking up Stitches

I used this video to learn about
picking up stitches.
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However,
upon watching it,
I began without looking at other videos
and thought I understood how it was done.
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I made a few mistakes.
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First,
I did not knit as I went along,
which this video suggests.
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I gathered the stitches,
got the added thread through the stitches and
thought this is what I needed to do.

I remembered
them saying to pick a stitch two or three
in from the top...
So I did this and, once I knit past the picked up stitches,
 it created a ridge instead of a
smooth transition:


The ridge is from top to bottom on that side.

So that is now the bottom side of the blanket.
I am not expecting perfection from myself
yet as I am still new to knitting.
And I find that while I do frog things back,
sometimes I would rather just have the finished result
show where I am in the process and be part of what
becomes the uniqueness of it.

So then I decided to try again for the other side,
as this blanket is blue with a yellow boarder.

 

I got it much better and there is very little seam
left at the end.
However I found that the fabric is a bit stretched.
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I am going to be doing more research on
how to get better at picking up stitches as
it is a very important knitting technique!
I feel like with this blanket
I am turning a corner in my knitting!
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I still hope to do a yellow duck in the centre!
Any and all suggestions on how to do this welcome!
Also any suggestions or things I can look at
regarding picking up stitches,
do let me know!
I am so excited to learn!
And to show you the finished baby blanket!