It’s autumn and it’s a fun time to try and learn how to knit. Making your own knitted sweatshirts, beanies and scarves is a huge reward especially knowing that you made it from scratch. All you need is a set of yarns and a knitting needle.
One of the techniques in knitting is knowing how to purl. Let’s get to know what is purling and how you can perfect this technique in no time.
What is a purl?
Purl is a type of knitting technique by having the knitting needle to pass through the stitch’s front area starting from the right then left. Unlike the regular knitting, notice that there’s a bump on the stitches and it’s usually at the back. But with purling, the stitch’s bump is in the front. It’s because of a different technique being used for knitting the yarn providing that kind of effect to the stitch.
How to Do It?
Step 1 Gather all the needed materials
For this activity, you will only need two things: a knitting needle and yarn. If you like to be creative, feel free to pick a colorful yarn to make this tutorial more enjoyable.
Step 2 Practice the right way of handling the yarn and knitting needle
- Whether you’re a leftie or not, both the stitches and the knitting needle has to be held on your left hand. Then, the knitting needle with zero stitches has to be positioned on your right hand.
- Hold the yarn properly while you start doing the stitches. Pull the knitting needle to the right front of the stitch that you first made. Make sure the right knitting needle is on top of your left knitting needle.
Step 3 Swaddling the yarn through a counter-clockwise move
Begin the process right at the front of the yarn to swaddle the yarn all through the right part of the knitting needle. Do this in a counter-clockwise movement. Then secure the yarn to finish the stitch in front of the knitting needles.
Step 4 Pull the needle tip from the front
You will need to insert the right knitting needle in a downward motion and have the tip of the needle be pulled at the back of the stitch. The yarn must be attached to the needle as you pull.
Step 5 Create a new loop
With the use of the left knitting needle, slide the previous stitch to it so the newly made stitch will position at the right knitting needle.
Step 6 Purl and Repeat
To continue making additional or continuous stitches throughout the row, just follow steps 2-5 and create newly purled stitches. The entire row is supposed to be on the right knitting needle and the left knitting needle should have nothing in it towards the end.
Knitting Tips for Beginners
- Hold the yarn properly when knitting so it won’t tangle around while working with your stitches.
- When doing stitches per row, whether it’s a regular knit or purl, you should do it in a uniform manner so each row will look identical. Sometimes knitting it too tight for some rows while the others are too loose, can result in uneven bumps with all the stitch.
- You can also purl both the front and back of the stitches. This technique actually increases the length of the stitches making you exert less effort in making bigger designs. However, you need to be mindful because you might forget that you did double purls for all rows. Always observe uniformity.
- Make your rows straight and also avoid making extra stitches. It will make the rows look uneven.