How to knit: Tutorial 2, Purl Stitch

Hello :)

It's a new week, and I hope you are all feeling good to go, ready for new things :)

Mr P. went off to a conference in Belgium, so I spent most of the night listening for sounds, creaking etc in our old house... Funny, when he is home, I sleep like the Grateful Dead, even if he has been called out...but let him not be coming home, and I suddenly turn into an insomniac. At 1am, I heard a funny rustling sound in the kitchen, froze for a few seconds (duvet clutched high to my neck...as if this was going to save me from whatever was lurking in the house...I mean get real, what?, am I still 2 years old.....), seriously gathered my courage, and leapt out of bed, de-activated the alarm, (I may have grabbed some implement to use as a weapon...the details are kind of fuzzzy), and flung myself headlong into the kitchen....only to be met by silence......
I stood still for a few seconds, and heard the noise again....coming from the grocery cupboard!

In one way, I must have been relieved, (as it could obviously not be an intruder), because I grabbed the handle of the door, yanked it open, and then proceeded to stare in shock and surprise at a tiny mouse. He/she and I stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, and as if it was choreographed, both of us started running into door, walls etc... I don't know who was more alarmed. I am pathetic! This is a girl who can take a proper bruise without too much fuss, and I freak out at a mouse!!!!! Should I ever be questioned about this, I shall swear it was a large hairy rat...

The result of my nocturnal bravery was that I slept only for a few hours, and consequently went to work looking like Cousin It...

My eldest nonchalantly tells me this morning that "Yes, Marmalade likes the kitchen..."
They KNOW about this creature, but they haven't told me (the little monsters), and they have been aiding and abetting the mouse, whom they have called Marmalade... I really don't have words.....

The pic above is again from the Wild Coast. We spend quite a lot of time down there with friends and family. Every holiday, all of the neighbours' kids end up at our house and then inevitably all the parents follow, which is really very nice and communal in a way... the dads organise touch rugby matches on the beach, and all can join in , big and small... this is so disorganised, the smallies run off with the ball, the little girls do ballet and dances in the middle of the "field" and rules are made up as we go :) Summers are so wonderful...

Onto the business of the day! :)

I have prepared the second Knitting Tutorial: the Purl Stitch. The toy pattern that I'll be blogging about will use only these basic stitches: Knit and Purl (no fancy stuff yet...)


Step 1. At the end of the last post, you had finished the knit row, and you now need to turn your work around. At this point in time, you will always be working from the right side of your stitches to the left, ie the stitches are transferred from the left hand needle onto the right hand needle, as you have knitted or purled.
Later, I will show you how to knit back, so that the same side of the work always faces you...
but that's for another day!


Step 2. Ok, so your first stitch has got a small bump like thing at the bottom of it (as do all the stitches on this side). This is how you identify a purl stitch/row. The knit stitch has a "v" shaped look. Remember when you were making a knit stitch, you placed the needle from front to back, through the first (and subsequent stitches)... for a purl stitch it is the opposite. You place your needle throught the first stitch and subsequent stitches, from back to front, as shown above.
But wait! There is a catch! You have to move your working yarn to in front of the needle, before you place your needle through the stitch . Have a close look at the pic above.

Step 3. Ta da! Done! You will now proceed to let the stitch slip of off the left needle, and make sure it stays on the right needle. I always slip the first stitch of a row, it makes for a nice seaming edge, that is firm. Some people don't do this, and it's fine, but I think it will work out better for you if you do it this way for this project.

Step 4. In the pic above, imagine that the first stitch is represented by the turquoise oval. It moves off the left needle onto the right needle in the direction shown. This is called slipping a stitch.

Step 5. Right...notice that the working yarn is still on this side of your work, ie closest to you. It stays there for the duration of purling this row, because all the stitches are purled on this side.

Insert your needle into the next stitch as shown, exactly like you did before.

Step 6. You will wrap the working yarn anti-clockwise around the tip of your right hand needle (the working yarn moves between the needle tips), as seen above.

Step 7. Working yarn is wrapped around the right needle tip...

Step 8. Being careful not to pull the whole lot off the right hand needle, ease the tip of the needle through backwards and out of the left hand needle stitch, as shown. You may have to click on the pic above, to see the movement exactly, as it is quite small...

Step 9. Look at the pic above again if you are unsure... you will now have two stitches (both purl) on your right hand needle. Let the "used" stitch on the left needle slip off in the direction shown.
See below.

Step 10. Well done!!! You have finished two purled stitches... :)

Step 11. Repeat the whole story again, until the end of the row. I have added some extra pics below, just as some visual candy :)

Step 12. You have finished with the row, and now you can turn your work again, knit the row, turn, purl the row, etc...

And so on...

I have completed the first square of our project. You remember that we cast on 13 stitches initially, you will now knit (by this I mean the generic term "knit" ie the creation of rows), 18 rows, basically 9 rows knit, 9 rows purl. And then, dear friends.... we will learn to do casting off!!!!! (.....ummmm....tomorrow!)

I hope all of the above makes sense, if you have any questions, please leave a comment.

I am off to do times tables with the mouse abetting cherubs!

Lots of Love,

Heidi :)