How to Purl Stitch: The Second Thing You Learn After Cast-On
Once you can cast on and knit, the purl stitch is the next thing you learn. It is the second of the two stitches that every knitting pattern is built from. Learn knit and purl, and you can make scarves, hats, sweaters, blankets, and almost everything in between.
The purl stitch confuses beginners for one reason: it feels backwards. The yarn moves to the front, the needle enters from a different direction, and the motion runs opposite to the knit stitch your hands just learned. This guide breaks the purl down step by step, explains the one tension problem nearly every beginner hits, and shows you how knit and purl combine into the most useful fabric in knitting.
If you have not learned to cast on yet, start with the how to cast on knitting guide first. This post assumes you have stitches on the needle and can knit a basic row.
What Purl Actually Does (Structure Explained)
A purl stitch is not a different stitch from a knit stitch. It is the same stitch viewed from the other side.
When you knit a stitch, you pull a loop through to the back of the work. When you purl a stitch, you pull that same loop through to the front. If you knit a stitch and then looked at the back of your work, what you would see is a purl. They are two faces of one structure.
This matters because it explains why purl exists at all. You do not purl because purl produces a special texture on its own. You purl because alternating knit and purl rows is what creates flat, smooth fabric. A purl is the tool that lets you control which side of the loop faces out.
The Knit Side and the Purl Side
A knit stitch, viewed from the front, looks like a small V. A purl stitch, viewed from the front, looks like a horizontal bump or a little dash.
If you knit every row, you get garter stitch: rows of bumps on both sides because you are alternating which face shows. If you knit one row and purl the next row, all the V's stack on one side and all the bumps stack on the other. That smooth V-side is the front of most sweaters you own.
Understanding this now saves confusion later. When a pattern says "knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches," it is asking you to read the fabric. The V's get knit. The bumps get purled. That instruction only makes sense once you understand that knit and purl are two views of the same loop.
Step-by-Step Purl
Here is the purl stitch broken into 10 steps. The motion is the mirror image of the knit stitch. Plan on 15 to 20 minutes of practice before it feels natural.
- Hold the needle with your stitches in your left hand. The working yarn (the strand attached to the ball) hangs off the first stitch.
- Bring the working yarn to the front of the work. This is the step that feels different. For a knit stitch the yarn stays in back. For a purl, it comes forward, between the two needles, toward you.
- Insert the right needle into the first stitch from right to left. The right needle goes into the front of the stitch, but the tip points toward you and to the left, not away from you. The right needle ends up in front of the left needle.
- Confirm the needle position. The right needle should be crossing in front of the left needle, both needle tips pointing roughly toward each other.
- Wrap the working yarn around the right needle. Bring the yarn over the top of the right needle and down, wrapping counterclockwise. The yarn is in front, so the wrap motion happens in front of the work.
- Hold the wrap in place with your right index finger so it does not slip while you complete the next step.
- Push the right needle tip down and back through the original stitch, carrying the wrapped yarn with it. The new loop moves to the back of the work.
- Pull the new loop through. You now have a new stitch on the right needle.
- Slide the original stitch off the left needle. The old stitch drops away. The new purl stitch stays on the right needle.
- Repeat for every stitch in the row. Keep the yarn in front the entire time you are purling.
When you reach the end of a purl row and want to knit the next row, the first thing you do is move the yarn to the back again. Forgetting to move the yarn is the single most common beginner error, and it creates accidental holes and extra stitches. Yarn forward to purl, yarn back to knit. Say it out loud in the first few rows.
Knit + Purl = Stockinette
Stockinette stitch is the fabric you get when you knit one row, purl the next row, and repeat. It is the smooth, V-covered fabric on the front of most sweaters, and it is the first multi-stitch fabric every beginner makes.
How to Knit Stockinette
Working flat (back and forth on straight or circular needles):
- Row 1: knit every stitch
- Row 2: purl every stitch
- Repeat rows 1 and 2
That is the whole pattern. The knit rows are the "right side" (the smooth V-side that faces out). The purl rows are the "wrong side" (the bumpy side that faces in).
Why Stockinette Curls
Stockinette has one quirk: the edges curl. The side edges roll toward the back, and the top and bottom edges roll toward the front. This is not a mistake in your knitting. It is the natural behavior of the fabric, caused by the tension difference between the knit face and the purl face.
This is why most patterns add a border. A few stitches of garter stitch on each side, or a band of ribbing at the top and bottom, holds the edges flat. If you knit a plain stockinette scarf with no border, it will roll into a tube. Useful to know before you spend three hours on one.
Garter vs Stockinette
Garter stitch (knit every row) lies flat, is reversible, and is bumpy on both sides. Stockinette (alternate knit and purl rows) is smooth on the front, bumpy on the back, and curls at the edges. Beginners usually make a garter scarf first because it lies flat with no border needed, then move to stockinette for project two once they are comfortable switching the yarn position between knit and purl.
Common Purl Problems and Fixes
Almost every beginner hits the same three problems when they learn to purl. All three are fixable.
Problem 1: My Purls Look Looser Than My Knits
This is the most common purl complaint. You knit a row, it looks even. You purl a row, the stitches look baggy and loose. When you knit stockinette, you can see the loose purl rows alternating with the tighter knit rows, like a ladder.
The cause: most beginners hold less tension on the yarn during the purl motion than during the knit motion. The purl motion happens in front of the work where your hand position is slightly different, and the yarn slips.
The fix: after you wrap the yarn for each purl stitch, give the working yarn a small extra tug before you pull the loop through. Not a hard pull, just a deliberate snug. Within a few rows your hands learn to apply consistent tension on both stitches. The looseness disappears.
It also helps to use a yarn with enough body that the stitches hold their shape while you are still learning tension. Cloudtouch® baby alpaca-pima cotton is AirJet-processed, which locks the fibers so the yarn does not collapse or slump on the needle. A splitty or limp yarn makes the loose-purl problem worse because there is nothing holding the stitch open.
Problem 2: I Keep Getting Extra Stitches
You started the row with 25 stitches. You finished with 28. Where did three stitches come from?
The cause: forgetting to move the yarn. If you leave the yarn in front when you should be knitting, the yarn wraps over the needle and creates an accidental "yarn over," which is an extra stitch. The same happens in reverse when you leave the yarn in the back during a purl.
The fix: yarn forward to purl, yarn back to knit. Every single stitch. It feels tedious for the first few rows, then it becomes automatic. Count your stitches at the end of every row so you catch an extra stitch immediately instead of 20 rows later.
Problem 3: My Stitches Are Twisted
Your stitches look like they have a little twist at the base, and the fabric looks tight and slightly distorted.
The cause: inserting the right needle into the stitch in the wrong direction, or wrapping the yarn the wrong way around the needle. Both put a twist in the stitch.
The fix: for a standard purl, the right needle enters the stitch from right to left (from the back of the stitch toward you), and the yarn wraps counterclockwise over the top. If your stitches are twisting, slow down and check the needle entry direction against the step-by-step above. Twisted stitches are not a disaster (some patterns use them on purpose), but for plain stockinette, you want untwisted stitches.
Practice Project Ideas
The fastest way to make the purl stitch automatic is to knit something that uses it on every other row.
The Stockinette Scarf With a Garter Border
This is the universal purl practice project. Cast on 25 stitches. Knit the first 4 and last 4 stitches of every row (that is the garter border that stops the curl), and work stockinette in between. The repetition of alternating knit and purl rows, hundreds of times, is what builds the muscle memory.
The Knit-Purl Sampler Swatch
Cast on 30 stitches and make a sampler: 10 rows of garter, 10 rows of stockinette, 10 rows of 1x1 ribbing (knit 1, purl 1 across, alternating every stitch). The ribbing section forces you to switch between knit and purl on every single stitch, which is the most concentrated purl practice you can get.
Move to a Real Project
Once your purls and knits look even, you are ready for a structured project. The Journey Scarf pattern is built as a first stockinette project: a simple knit-and-purl scarf with a garter border already written into the pattern, so the edges stay flat. The full kit ships with Cloudtouch® baby alpaca-pima cotton yarn (the body that keeps your purl tension honest while you learn), US 10.5 bamboo needles, and a video walkthrough.
For the bigger picture of how knit and purl fit into your first few projects, the Sierra Yarn YouTube beginner knitting course, Zero Confusion tutorial walks through which projects to tackle in which order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is purl harder than knit?
It feels harder for the first 15 minutes because the motion is the mirror image of the knit stitch your hands just learned. After about one practice row, it clicks. Purl is not objectively harder, it is just second, so your hands have to unlearn the assumption that all stitches feel like a knit.
Why do my purl rows look messy?
Almost always a tension issue. Beginners hold less tension during the purl motion than during the knit motion, so the purl stitches come out looser. Add a small deliberate tug on the working yarn after each wrap and the rows even out.
Do I have to learn purl, or can I just knit everything?
You can make garter-stitch projects (scarves, simple blankets, dishcloths) with knit alone. But you cannot make stockinette fabric, ribbing, or most sweaters without purl. Learning purl roughly doubles what you can make.
What does "yarn forward" mean in a pattern?
It means move the working yarn to the front of the work, between the needles, toward you. You do this before every purl stitch. "Yarn back" means the opposite, and you do it before every knit stitch.
Why does my stockinette curl into a tube?
That is the natural behavior of stockinette fabric, caused by the tension difference between the knit face and the purl face. Add a garter or ribbed border on all four edges and it lies flat.
Start a Scarf in Stockinette
The purl stitch is the second half of the foundation. Once knit and purl both feel automatic, you can read your fabric, fix your own mistakes, and tackle stockinette, ribbing, and your first sweater.
The best way to lock the purl in is repetition on a real project. The Journey Scarf pattern is written as a first stockinette scarf with the garter border built in, so you practice alternating knit and purl rows without the curl ruining the finished piece. The kit includes Cloudtouch® baby alpaca-pima cotton yarn, US 10.5 bamboo needles, the printed pattern, and a video tutorial.
If you want to browse other first projects that use knit and purl together, the Sierra Yarn beginner kits collection groups scarves, cowls, and beanies that all build knit-and-purl muscle memory, each with the yarn, needles, pattern, and video tutorial in one box.