What is the difference between a knit stitch and a purl stitch?

This is the piece of knitting theory that makes patterns readable. Once you see that knit and purl are one stitch viewed from two sides, rib, moss stitch and cables stop being separate things to memorise.

Step by step

1. Look at a knit stitch from the front.It reads as a small letter V, with the two legs of the loop pointing downwards. That is the front face of the loop.
2. Turn the fabric over and look at the same stitch.It reads as a horizontal bump or bar. Same loop, other side. There is no second stitch involved.
3. Understand what the technique difference is.Knitting pulls the new loop through from the back to the front; purling pushes it from the front to the back. Which face ends up towards you is the only difference.
4. Knit every row and you get garter stitch.Because you turn the work each row, alternate rows show their bumps on the same side. The result is ridged, identical on both faces and it lies flat.
5. Alternate knit and purl rows and you get stocking stitch.All the Vs end up on one side and all the bumps on the other. This is the smooth fabric used for almost all jumpers.
6. Understand why stocking stitch curls.The two faces of the fabric have different tension, so the edges roll — sides towards the back, top and bottom towards the front. It is a property, not a mistake, which is why patterns add a rib or garter border.
7. Read rib as columns rather than rows.Knit two, purl two, repeated, with the knits stacked above knits. Rib is very elastic, which is why it is used on cuffs, hems and necklines.
8. Learn to read your knitting.Once you can see V for knit and bump for purl on the row facing you, you can find your place in a pattern without counting rows, and spot a mistake before it is twenty rows deep.

Tips

• V means knit, bump means purl. Learn to read that and patterns become much easier.
• Stocking stitch curling is normal. Add a garter or rib border rather than fighting it.
• Rib is elastic because it pulls the columns together — that is why cuffs use it.

Common mistakes

• Treating knit and purl as unrelated stitches to memorise — They are one stitch seen from opposite sides. Understanding that makes every stitch pattern, from moss stitch to cables, a variation rather than something new.
• Trying to flatten stocking stitch by knitting more tightly — The curl comes from the structural difference between the two faces, not from tension. Only a border in another stitch, or blocking, changes it.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask