how to follow pattern: Knit knit stitches and purl purl stitches

[zs1woman]

Hi, everyone. I'm a brand new knitter, working on the guage swatch for my first project. I'm following a pattern that gives directions for the odd rows and says to knit the knit stiches and purl the purl stitches in the even rows. For the even rows, I'm just trying to follow the pattern backwards for the previous odd row since it's hard for me to tell by looking which are knit and which are purl stitches when there is only the cast on row and maybe one other row (small needle and sport weight yarn). My question is, when the pattern instructs me to yarn over in an odd row, do I knit or purl that stitch in the next even row? The yarn over creates an extra stitch on the needle, right? I'm thinking if I yarn over then knit I will knit the yo stitch on the next row, and if i yo then purl I will purl the yo stitch on the next row. Please help! Thanks!

[suzeeq]

When it tells you to knit the knits and purl the purls on the row you're doing, just look really closely as you do each stitch to see what it is. A knit st looks like a V and purl stitch like n kind of. Larger needles and thicker yarn make it easier to tell which is which. When you yo, a knit stitch isn't part of it, it's just wrapping your yarn around the needle. On the next row you knit or purl. I think if you've done a yo