knitting help

So, I’ve recently picked up my knitting needles again and have been working on my first project that I think I might actually finish. But…I have run into a little problem with the pattern, and I am calling upon you to help me figure it out. Eve’s hooded scarf is a pattern easily found on the internet, and it seemed like a perfect project for someone who hasn’t knitted in a really long time, nor really moved past the ‘beginner’ stage. I’ve got the scarf part down, and am about to make the 3 inch slit for sliding one side through the other..After that, I work the scarf a little more, bind off and begin on the hood portion. This is where I get confused…

The pattern reads:’Fold scarf in half to identify, as closely as possible, the center edge stitch (on either side – it doesn’t matter which one). Mark with a safety pin.
Place a safety pin in the 24th slipped edge stitch to the right of the marked stitch, and place another safety pin in the 24th slipped edge stitch to the left of the marked stitch. Remove the center safety pin. With the right side of the fabric facing, and using a new strand of yarn, pick up and knit 49 stitches (an odd number) between the two safety pins (pick up one stitch in each slipped edge stitch, starting and ending in the pinned stitches).’

How do I pick up a stick that I’ve bound off? I just figured out of most of my questions carefully reading, and this the one question that I am left with.