How to Work the Purl Stitch

The purl stitch is the knit stitch’s mirror image — where a knit stitch leaves a smooth little V on the side facing you, a purl leaves a soft round bump, and between the two of them they build nearly every fabric in knitting. Our Craft-Night packs teach it in their stitch school, the cricket bat cushion knits whole grain lines in purl, and the baby booties and onesies use purl ridges and diamonds for texture you can feel with a fingertip.

Step by step

Start with the yarn in front of the work, hanging between you and the needles. That one detail — yarn forward for purl, yarn back for knit — is the entire difference between the two stitches, and forgetting it is how mystery yarn-over loops are born.
Slip the tip of the right-hand needle into the first stitch on the left needle from right to left, so the needle points down through the stitch and its tip emerges on the far side, nearer your body. The stitch stays on the left needle for now.
Take the working yarn up and around the tip of the right needle, travelling anticlockwise — over the top and down between the two needle tips. Think of it as wrapping the yarn *downwards*, the opposite journey from a knit stitch’s wrap.
Draw the right needle back through the stitch, bringing the new loop with it. A gentle scoop rather than a yank: the loop slides through and sits on the right needle.
Slide the old stitch off the left needle, and snug the new stitch up to its neighbours — not tight, just home. That’s one purl stitch: one bump, delivered to the side of the fabric that faces you.
Reset before the next stitch: yarn still in front, needle in from right to left, wrap, scoop, slide off. Purl rows feel slower than knit rows for almost everyone at first; the rhythm arrives by the second ball of yarn, and it never leaves.
Learn to read what you’re making: the side of the fabric with smooth Vs is the knit side, and the side covered in bumps is the purl side. A row of purling on the front of flat work gives you the ridge lines and recessed columns — it’s how the cricket bat’s grain is carved into the blade.
Teaming it up is where purl earns its keep: purl on the wrong side and knit on the right makes stocking stitch; knit and purl taking turns across a row makes ribbing; and following a purl ridge or diamond charted into a plain ground — like the booties’ purl-ridge tread and the onesies’ purl diamonds — is pure purl at work.
If your purl rows come out looser than your knit rows (a common wobble called rowing out, visible as faint stripes), give the yarn one small extra tug as you finish each purl stitch, or purl the row through the back loop’s neighbour — the simplest cure is the tug, practised for a row or two until it matches.

Patterns that use it

Beginner Craft-Night Knit Pack Vol 3 | 12 Easy Ornament & Bauble Patterns PDF

Cricket Bat & Stumps Cushion Set Knitting Pattern | Bat Bolster and Stumps PDF, Aussie Cricket, Digital Download

Aussie Baby Booties Vol 3 | 12 Knitted Baby Bootie Patterns PDF

Aussie Baby Onesies Vol 3 | 12 Knitted Baby Onesie Patterns PDF

Green & Gold Baby Cardigan and Beanie Knitting Pattern | Aussie Baby Set, Sizes 0-12 Months, Digital PDF

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Common mistakes

Forgetting to bring the yarn to the front before you start. The yarn travels over the needle instead of under it and leaves a mystery extra loop — the accidental yarn over is the purl stitch’s most famous beginner error, and it’s always the yarn position.
Wrapping the yarn the same way you do for a knit stitch. A purl wrap travels anticlockwise, over the top and down between the needle tips — the opposite journey from a knit — and the wrong wrap gives you small, tight, twisted-feeling stitches.
Rowing out: purl rows worked looser than knit rows, showing as faint horizontal stripes across stocking stitch. Give the yarn one small extra tug as you finish each purl stitch for a row or two until the two rows match.

Tina’s tips

Learn to read the two stitches on sight — a smooth little V is a knit, a soft round bump is a purl — and you’ll always know where you are in a pattern without counting back to the start of the row.
Don’t be discouraged that purl rows feel slower than knit rows at first; they do for almost everyone. The rhythm arrives by the second ball of yarn, and once it’s in your hands it never leaves.