I can Purl! YEAH

artistic_alexis · 02-11-2006, 10:57 AM

Just thought I'd share my happiness with all those who are just learning that I think I finally got purling down. I don't do it exactly like the book shows or the video, I seem to wrap the yarn around my left thumb and guide it that way. No clue how I figured that one out, but it works really well

! For my quillow I'm making, I'm doing this pattern of Knit a row, purl a row for 22 rows, then switch to purl a row knit a row for another 22, and so on creating a really cool square effect for the pillow part. This is such plain stuff, I know, but I never thought I could get it. It's SO funny how all of a sudden the pics in the book and the wording just makes sense and all of a sudden you're knitting.

To all my fellow newbies and newbettes, don't give up. I swear you'll get it all of a sudden when you're just about to give up. It worked that way for me, and I'm making my second project. Square slippers are finished, but didn't fit at all.

So on to this poll question... How long did it take you to figure out the two main stitches of knitting and purling?

Alexis

Cristy · 02-11-2006, 04:06 PM

Way to go! I picked it up pretty quickly and don't mind it at all but I understand that many folks hate to purl and have a hard time with it....
Congratulations on getting it figure it out--you're well on your way now!

butterflymama · 02-11-2006, 06:16 PM

I like to purl. :XX:

KristiMetz · 02-11-2006, 06:33 PM

The knit stitch is the one I had a really hard time with. Purling took me a day or two after that, but the knit stitch took a few weeks.

I was using US10.5 needles, which are a bit unwieldy for me. Also, I didn't understand that I was doing garter stitch, and was expecting to see stockinette stitch, so I thought my knitting was just horrible.

I almost gave up as a matter of fact.

Good thing I finally posted here and got straightened out. Everyone here is such a huge help and so incredibly nice! And, Amy totally rocks because I have learned using her videos exclusively. I don't think I would ever have learned to knit otherwise.

Jan in CA · 02-11-2006, 07:05 PM

I'm a fast learner I guess. I learned them both in one day.

jodstr2 · 02-11-2006, 08:31 PM

I took 4 months to purl. I am the most purlically challenged person I know.

wewantmore · 02-12-2006, 12:52 AM

Didn't take nearly as long as it took me to learn to Cast On. :rollseyes:

Amber · 02-12-2006, 02:28 AM

Well, I said "a month or more," but I didn't even attempt purling until I'd been knitting for quite a while. Once I tried it, I got it right away. Learning the knit stitch - that took me a while. I was trying to learn from a book, and it wasn't until I found Amy's videos that I actually "got it."

geekgolightly · 02-12-2006, 05:38 AM

it took a few minutes to learn purl, but it took 30 hours of dedicated knitting and frogging and knitting and frogging to get down how to do rib stitch. i realize that its purl and garter but for some reason i got really confused about which to put on top of what and how to tell the difference between the two and i kept forgetting what i had just stitched.

artistic_alexis · 02-12-2006, 05:48 AM

I still think it's funny how hard purling came to me. I just couldn't figure out how to make my fingers hold the yarn in front, and keep up some form of speed. MY HARDEST thing is trying to figure out if I purlled the last row or knit it when doing a stockinette stitch. I'm such an airhead, but any tips on how to figure this out? I KNOW there MUST be a simple trick I just haven't learned lol.

Alexis