Knit & purl…
stitches
First thing, how do you knit? Continental or English? Do you throw the yarn with your right hand or do you pick it off your left fingers?
When you knit (activity), you take the stitch on the left needle off that needle and position its LOOP below a new stitch on the right needle. KNIT stitches make the loop go away from you and form a bump on the BACK of your work. These stitches are worked with the yarn in BACK, and the needle tip in BACK [going through the front of the stitch from the left side].
PURL stitches make the loop come toward you and form a bump on the FRONT of your work. PURLS are worked with the yarn in FRONT, and the needle tip in FRONT [going through the back of the stitch from the right side -- just look at it normally from the front side of the work to determine right and left].
Regardless of whether you’re KNITting or PURLing, Casting on, or doing a Yarn Over or Yarn Forward, the yarn always goes around the right hand needle from the bottom right to the top left. Therefore, it looks like this on the needle \ [I can't put it there from my keyboard, but you can imagine the needle running through the middle of the slash] For many, many people, the easiest way to pick up the yarn on purl stitches is from bottom left to top right; this looks like this / and it makes the stitches twist on the next row, so you need to avoid doing it. Just remember, Bottom Right to Top Left, looks like a backward slash \ \
I know it can be frustrating, but be patient with yourself. You can learn to purl or do whatever you want…:)
When you knit (activity), you take the stitch on the left needle off that needle and position its LOOP below a new stitch on the right needle. KNIT stitches make the loop go away from you and form a bump on the BACK of your work. These stitches are worked with the yarn in BACK, and the needle tip in BACK [going through the front of the stitch from the left side].
PURL stitches make the loop come toward you and form a bump on the FRONT of your work. PURLS are worked with the yarn in FRONT, and the needle tip in FRONT [going through the back of the stitch from the right side -- just look at it normally from the front side of the work to determine right and left].
Regardless of whether you’re KNITting or PURLing, Casting on, or doing a Yarn Over or Yarn Forward, the yarn always goes around the right hand needle from the bottom right to the top left. Therefore, it looks like this on the needle \ [I can't put it there from my keyboard, but you can imagine the needle running through the middle of the slash] For many, many people, the easiest way to pick up the yarn on purl stitches is from bottom left to top right; this looks like this / and it makes the stitches twist on the next row, so you need to avoid doing it. Just remember, Bottom Right to Top Left, looks like a backward slash \ \
I know it can be frustrating, but be patient with yourself. You can learn to purl or do whatever you want…:)