Um...are my knit and purl supposed to look the same?!

[melbell]

So I grabbed some white yarn, so that the stitches would be easy to see...and I began practicing (I'm very new at this).

Anyway, I think I might be doing something wrong. When I knit on every row, it looks like the half circles like it's supposed to, but if I purl every row it looks exactly the same...is that supposed to happen? I thought that purling every row would look different.

Now if I ALTERNATE the rows, knit one row, purl one row, etc it does look different, so that's right...but I just thought it was wierd that if I knit 10 rows and then purl 10 rows they look the same to me...looks like 20 rows of garter stitch.

[diannab]

They should look different.... are you sure you are purling the last ten? I thought I was but I wasn't when I tried :D

[melbell]

nope, i'm not sure at all...in fact, I'm sure I'm not if they are supposed to look different!!

So, which one is supposed to look like Vs, is that the purling?

Also, how do I tell if I am working on the Right Side (RS) of the work or on the Wrong Side (WS)??

[Jax3303]

While Knitting flat, Knitting every row and Purling every row will look the same, both produce garter stitch. A purl stitch is the backside of a knit stitch.

[diannab]

http://learntoknit.lionbrand.com/cgi...yarn&faqKey=84

Will take you to a picture of garter stitch (knit every stitch) scroll to the bottom to see.. :D

http://learntoknit.lionbrand.com/cgi...yarn&faqKey=85

That is an example of purl stitch HTH :D

[suzeeq]

If you purl every row, yes it will look the same as knit every row. Garter stitch. To get stockinette, knit one row, purl one row.

[melbell]

well it's good to know that I'm not just doing it wrong!!

[knitncook]

If you pulle your knitted piece height-wise you will see the little V's of the knit stitches when doing garter stitch. You are seeing the U's of the purl side only because they tend to poke out and "envelope" the V's. But either way, garter stitch done in all purls or all knits are going to look identical in the end.

[MMario]

To really see a difference try a swatch of say 40 stitches.

Row "A" - k8, p8, k8, p8, k8
Row "B" - p8, k8, p8, k8, p8

alternate row A and B until you have enough to see....

The "right" side will have three columns of stockinette divided by two columns of reverse stocking stitch.

The "wrong" (or "private" side) will have two columns of stocking stitch between three columns of reverse stockinette.

MMario

[melbell]

thanks mmario i will try that tonight!

you guys are so much help I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!