Learn to knit a basic purl stitch with this knitting video tutorial!
Once you have learned the basic knit stitch , the next thing most people learn is the basic purl stitch.
What is a purl stitch?
A purl stitch is the opposite of a knit stitch. When you knit a regular knit stitch, the front side looks like a ‘v’ shape and the back has a horizontal “bump”. When you knit a purl stitch, the reverse is true and the horizontal bump appears on the front side of whatever you’re working on.
Why do I need to learn how to purl?
Purling has kind of a bad rap, I think for most knitters, it’s a little slower and feels a little more awkward so many people don’t love to purl. But it’s important to learn!
The most important reason is that to knit the most famous of all knitting stitch patterns, stockinette, the classic pattern that looks like neat columns of v’s, you must knit on one side, and then when you turn your work, you must purl on the other side. This keeps all the v shapes on the same side of your work and makes that nice smooth neat pattern everyone loves.
Many patterns also use both knit and purl stitches on the same side to create texture. You might do this to create ribbing or a simple textured stitch like seed stitch which is one of my favorites.
So learning how to purl is absolutely worth it!
Here’s how to knit a basic purl stitch:
- To knit a purl stitch, hold the working yarn IN FRONT of your work. You can hold the yarn with your right hand (English style) or with your left hand (Continental style).
- Insert the right needle through the first stitch on the left needle from right to left.
- Wrap the yarn around the tip of the right knitting needle.
- Pull the yarn through to the back to form the new purl stitch.
- Drop the original stitch from the left knitting needle
- Repeat steps 2-5!
How To Knit a Purl Stitch
Learn how to knit the purl stitch, this easy stitch is the reverse of the basic knit stitch and is one of the fundamentals of knitting!
Materials
Tools
Instructions
- To knit a purl stitch, hold the working yarn IN FRONT of your work. You can hold the yarn with your right hand (English style) or with your left hand (Continental style).
- Insert the right needle through the first stitch on the left needle from right to left
- Wrap the yarn around the tip of the right knitting needle
- Pull the yarn through to the back to form the new purl stitch
- Drop the original stitch from the left knitting needle
- Repeat steps 2-5!
Notes
Be sure to always keep the yarn IN FRONT of your work when knitting purl stitches.
Watch the video to see how to knit a purl stitch in motion!
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