I might suggest that on pine or any other open grain wood (poplar also) that you give it a thin coat of shellac before staining. Shellac dries fairly fast so it is no big deal. I buy my Zinsser "Bulls Eye" shellac at Lowe's and cut it 50/50 with denatured alcohol to make a 1# cut and brush it on with a cheap foam brush. It usually drys in 5 to 10 minutes. Then wipe the stain on with a folded paper towel. If you need to get the stain down inside the cuts, you can use a small water color brush or even a cotton swab where it doesn't just flow into the small, tight areas.
If you don't use a sealer of some kind, the open grained woods tend to blotch and have a lot of dark spots in odd areas (especially end grain. I have made a poplar blanket chest look like walnut to the untrained eye.) and then just apply the final finish however you want to.
Rog
