How to Make a Purl Stitch

All knitted items consist of varying combinations of the knit stitch and the purl stitch. The knit stitch is typically the first one learned, so these instructions assume you already know that much. Once you've learned the purl stitch described here, you can do stockinette and ribbing, vastly expanding your knitting abilities to include things like patterned scarves or shawls, and eventually even sweaters and socks.

Instructions

1. Bring the yarn to the front of your knitting, while you still have the needle with your completed stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right. If you're not purling an entire row and both needles have stitches, the right should be the side new stitches are moving to.

2. Insert the right needle into the front of the stitch loop from right to left. This is directly opposite the way you insert the needle for a standard knit stitch.

3. Wrap the yarn counter-clockwise around the right needle, keeping it at the front of your project. Again, the direction you wrap the yarn is the opposite of how knit stitches are done.

4. Pull the new loop through onto the right needle, and slide the original stitch off the left needle. You have just completed one purl stitch.

5. Repeat this process if purling an entire row, or move the yarn to the back again if alternating knit and purl stitches.

Tips & Warnings

• When purling a long row, it can be helpful to wrap the active yarn around the back of your neck so that it helps create tension in the right direction.