Please Help! Purls gone wrong

#1

Hi everyone!
I’m a new knitter and I’ve learned how to do the cast on and the knit. Whenever I try to purl though I’ll only ever get one purl (flat side) and then it starts to become bumpy again(which I assume is the purl turning into a knit) I would like to purl three rows (continuous flat side) but I don’t know what else to do. I’ve been following videos but I’m still not getting it right. is there a way or a technique to make sure the yarn ball stringy stays in front of the needle and to make sure the purl comes out a purl?

Any help would be so appreciated. I’m starting to get really discouraged.

#2

Are you trying to get stockinette? Stockinette is the flat V’s on one side and bumps on the other. If so then you need to purl a row, then knit a row and alternate those. So it would be -

Row 1 - purl across the row
Row 2 - knit across the row
Row 3 - purl across the row

Also - to purl just keep the yarn in front. To knit keep the yarn in back.

#3

Hi thanks so much for replying. I’m not too sure what a stockinnette is but I’m just trying to get a 3 flat rows in a row then 3 bumpy rows in a row. but i keep getting one flat one bumpy rows. I’ve also been trying to keep the string in the front and in the back for the purl and the stitch but I think I must be doing something wrong with that.

#4

Stockinette is when you do as I explained in the previous post. It looks like the flat red part of this sample. The white part is garter which is knit on both sides.

Because of the way garter works you’ll need to do a few more rows of stockinette. So you continue the knit a row, purl a row. You’ll probably need to do at least two more -

Row 1 - purl across the row
Row 2 - knit across the row
Row 3 - purl across the row
Row 4 - knit across the row
Row 5 - purl across the row

If it’s still not enough do it again. If you think you’re doing something wrong watch the videos again. If you need help beyond that try looking at this page - http://www.knitpicks.com/tutorials/Knit__L10070201.html

#5

I had the same problem when I learned which was only about 2 months ago. When I tried to do the purl it just would not go right… So what I did… Is I practiced the knit stitch until it became absolutely 100% comfy… and then I tried the purl again. Whaa Laa!! It worked…

#6

If you purl every row you get garter stitch, same as knitting every row. So alternate a purl row with a knit row for 3 or 4 rows, then switch to purl on the smooth side and knit on the bumpy side for a few rows.

#7

I’m just trying to get a 3 flat rows in a row then 3 bumpy rows in a row.

Stockinette is what you get when you work a row of knit and then a row of purl and keep doing that sequence all the time (knitted flat). It is smooth with the little vees on one side and bumpy on the other.

Sometimes you want the bumpy side to end up on the right side of what you are doing, we call that reverse stockinette stitch (it is just the back side of the stockinette).

I believe you are wanting to do this, get three rows where the smooth side shows on the front and then get three rows where the bumpy side shows on the front. To do that work this way:

Row 1: Knit. (always have the yarn in back when you knit)
Row 2: Purl. (always have the yarn in front of the working needle when you purl)
Row 3: Knit.
Row 4: Knit. (this starts throwing the smooth side to the back)
Row 5: Purl.
Row 6: Knit.

Then go back to row 1 and repeat the 6 row sequence as many times as you want this to go on. You will have 3 rows of smooth, then 3 rows of bumpy on both sides.

#8

Yes, definitely knit a practice swatch. Don’t worry. You’ll get it. You didn’t say whether you knit English or Continental style. If you knit English, you might try placing the ball of yarn to your right. If Continental, place the ball to your left. This will help you feed the yarn better. It may be that you’re getting “off” when you drop the needles to pull more yarn out. If that’s the case, you might want to try winding your yarn up in a center pull ball. Youtube has videos that will show you how to do this by hand. It feeds itself effortlessly. If you ask at your local yarn shop, they might be willing to wrap this for you on their ball winder.