How to Purl Stitch: 7 Step Beginner Knitting Tutorial

The purl stitch is the second fundamental stitch in knitting and the second one you'll learn after the knit stitch. Together, knit and purl are the building blocks for every stitch pattern in knitting - stockinette, ribbing, seed stitch, cables, lace. Master both and you can read any pattern.

This walkthrough from Davina at Sheep & Stitch breaks the purl into seven clean steps. The big difference from a knit stitch: yarn stays in FRONT of the needle, the right needle goes in from TOP to BOTTOM (purlwise), and the wrap goes BACK to FRONT. Same yarn, same needles, opposite motions.

What you need

• 8mm to 10mm bamboo or wooden needles - wood grips the yarn instead of dropping it
• Bulky yarn in a light, solid color. Dark or fuzzy yarn hides the loop
• 10 to 15 stitches on the left needle - see how to cast on
• Scissors

The purl stitch, move by move

Five moves, same order, every stitch: yarn to the front between the needle tips, right needle into the stitch from top to bottom, wrap back to front, pull the new loop through, slide the old stitch off.

In a pattern the purl stitch is p, so "p1" is one purl and "p to end" means purl the rest of the row. Purlwise is that top-to-bottom needle entry. Reading a knitting pattern covers the rest of the shorthand.

Why the purl stitch exists in knitting

A purl is the same loop as a knit, worked from the other side. Push the loop away from you and the front shows a V. Pull it toward you and the front shows a bump. Two directions, and that is enough to make every fabric on the needles.

• Garter stitch - knit every row. Ridged, squishy, flat, the same on both sides.
• Stockinette - knit one row, purl the next. Smooth Vs on the front, bumps on the back. The sweater fabric, and it curls at the edges.
• Reverse stockinette - purl every row, bumpy face out.
• Ribbing - knits and purls alternating inside one row. Stretchy, so it lands on cuffs and hems. See how to knit ribbing.

To work both stitches inside one project rather than one at a time, combining them row by row picks up where this page stops.

Moving the yarn front and back

The error that eats more beginner rows than anything else is starting a purl with the yarn still at the back. It has to travel between the two needle tips, never over the top of them. Carry it over and you have made a yarn over: an extra loop that becomes an extra stitch with a hole under it. Count your stitches at the end of every practice row - if the number went up, a stray wrap is why.

Purl bumps and knit Vs

Look at the row closest to the needle. A knit shows a flat V, point down. A purl shows a horizontal bump sitting on the stitch below it. That is the whole of stitch reading. Lost your place halfway across a rib? A bump means you purled that stitch, so the next one is the opposite.

Purl stitch problems and how to fix them

The stitch is twisted. It sits with its legs crossed and fights the needle on the next row. You wrapped front to back instead of back to front. Lift it off, turn it so the right leg sits in front, put it back.

Purl rows looser than knit rows. Stockinette that stripes - a tight row, a loose row - is called rowing out, and most knitters do it at first because the purl motion uses a little more yarn. Tug the yarn snug after each wrap, or drop one needle size on purl rows only.

A stitch has come off the needle. On the purl side it shows as a gap with a ladder of loose bars under it. Stop pulling on the work, pin the loose loop so it cannot run, then pick the dropped stitch back up with a crochet hook.