The World According to Me

Once you feel comfortable with the knit stitch, it is time to learn how to purl. This stitch is abbreviated in knitting patterns with a p. It is essentially the reverse of the knit stitch. The needle with the stitches should be in your left hand.

Keep the working yarn in front of the needles. Insert the right needle into the first stitch from back to front and in front of the left needle.

With the right index finger, bring the working yarn around the right needle counter-clockwise.

Pull the right needle back out of the old stitch and pull the new stitch through. Slip the old stitch off the left needle, leaving the new stitch entirely on the right needle. You have now completed one purl stitch. Repeat until all stitches are on the right needle. You have completed your first purl row.

The purl side of a piece is considered the wrong side (or back side). When you transfer the needle with the stitches back to your left hand, you are looking at the right side (or front side).

Here is a video of the purl stitch from Revver.

Revver(263114)

Alternate knit rows with purl rows. This is one of the most frequently used patterns in knitting and is called the stockinette stitch.

With these two basic stitches you could now begin your first real piece.

Try making a scarf by using a fairly large needle and a soft bulky yarn. Cast on 23 stitches. You could do a simple stockinette pattern or you can work the pattern as follows:

Row 1: K2, P2; repeat until last 3 stitches, K2, P1

Row 2: P2, K2, P2; repeat until last stitch, P1

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until scarf measures approximately 72” long. (or as long as you want it)