by Katrina Chapman

Created on: July 02, 2008

How to understand the purl stitch. You might ask yourself why you even need to understand the purl stitch. I mean you already know how to knit right?

The purl stitch opens up an entire range of knitting options. No longer do you have to knit with bumps on both sides of your fabric. Now you can decided where the bumps will be. On one side? On both sides? In a pattern to make a picture? Alternated knitting and purling to make ribbing? It's up to you.

Now you might be thinking great I know what I can do with a purl stitch but how do I make one? Before you can make a purl stitch you have to understand the basics of how knitting works. Knitting is loops of yarn pulled through one another. The loops are kept "live" by being on a needle. The loops are called stitches and are arranged in rows.

There are two ways to pull new loops through. Knit and purl. Knitting is covered in another article and probably what you learned first. If you're reading this you know you need to purl but you need to know how. The purl stitch but the bump, created by pulling a new loop of yarn through an old loop of yarn, on the front of the fabric. Knitting puts this on the back.

To know if what you're doing in knitting or purling you need to look at the stitches under your working needle. If it looks like the stitch on the needle is wearing a noose you're purling. If it looks like he's wearing a scarf your knitting.

The following directions are for a right handed knitter. I'm doing this for two reasons. One over 90% of the world is right handed. Two I'm right handed and wouldn't know how to give left handed directions.

To purl you insert your working needle, the one in your right hand, into the first stitch on the non working needle. You do this in the front of the stitch from right to left. Wrap the yarn around the needle and pull the stitch through. You have just created a purl stitch. Continue in this manner and you will have a row of purl stitches.

If you alternate rows of knitting and purling you will have what is called stockinette stitch. It will be smooth on one side and bumpy on the other. If you purl every row it will be bumpy on both sides and you'll have garter stitch. If you alternate purls and knits on the same row you can get patterns and or ribbing.

The possibilities are endless. You never know what you can do until you try. So go grab some yarn and a set of needles and get to purling.

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