The Purl Stitch Step 1:  As with the knit stitch, start by holding  the needle with the stitches in your left hand  and the empty needle in your right. Step 2:  Pull the working yarn in front of the  needles. Insert the tip of the right needle into  the front of the first stitch on the left needle,  from right to left (Figure 1). Step 3:  With the yarn in front of the needles,  travel around the tip of right needle in a  counterclockwise movement, passing between  the needles from right to left and back around  to the front again (Figure 2). Step 4:  Pull the right needle, with the loop of  working yarn around it, down and back (mov- ing away from you) through the stitch on the  left needle (Figure 3). Slip the old stitch off the  left needle and tighten the new stitch on the  right needle. You have your first purl stitch.  Repeat this process through the end of the  row. When you have purled every stitch on the  row, you will have an empty needle in your left  hand. Swap needles so that the “full” needle is  in your left hand and the empty one in your  right, and you’re ready to begin the next row.  Note:  If you purl every row, you also get garter  stitch! The working yarn, the yarn that runs from  your needle to the ball, is attached to the last  stitch you made. That last stitch worked should  be the stitch closes to the tip of your right  needle. "Inevitably, you’ll get interrupted while  knitting. When you return to your knitting,  simply find the working yarn, make sure you’re  holding the needle with the last stitch worked  in your right hand, and away you go." “Tensioning” yarn simply refers to how you hold your working yarn. You want to find a  way to hold your yarn so that your stitches come out firm, but not too firm to slide easily  along the needle, and look even (no particularly loose stitches and no particularly tight  stitches). Figures 1 and 2 show just two ways to hold the yarn; Figure 1 shows tension for the  English style of knitting and Figure 2 shows tension for the Continental style. When you tension yarn, you’re doing two things at once—slowing yarn as it comes off the  ball and guiding yarn around the needle. Sounds complicated, but it’s not. Why? Because  there’s no wrong way to do it. Once your hand acquires muscle memory of holding tension,  you’ll do it without thinking. One way to tension yarn for the Eng- lish method (Figure 1).  What doesn't work: Holding the yarn  between your your thumb and fore- finger to tension and guide the yarn  at the same time. The trouble is that  it provides irregular tension because  you drop the yarn at each stitch. One way to tension yarn for the Con- tinental method (Figure 2). 6 Copyright © 2011 Interweave. Working yarn Identifying the Working Yarn Tension Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3