Knitting and Purling questions from a newbie

[andypauline]

I recently learned to knit and I am trying desperately to teach myself to purl. I think I am doing it correctly but the problem is that my knit stitches don't look like v's. Now I'm worried that I'm doing my knit stitches wrong. What stitch is supposed to look like a v and how do I do it? What is the basic difference between what a knit stitch looks like and what a purl stitch looks like? I'm so confused Thanks for any help you can give.

[brendajos]

to get the Vs you have to do one row of knit and one row of purl. If you are doing all of one or the other you are getting garter stitch.

[andypauline]

Thanks so much, I'll try and see what I come up with. At least I'll find out for sure if i'm doing the purl correctly.

[Poppycock]

Hello knitters! Please help me....

I started knitting yesterday, having not done it since I was about 7 years old. I was expecting, from hazy memories, that one side would be "smooth", and the other ribbed. I am actually ending up with something that is ribbed on both sides. Watching your videos (very helpful!) I have established that I am knitting English style.

So my question is, am I doing something wrong? From the previous reply, I suspect if I want something smooth I have to knit a row then purl a row then knit again etc. Yes?

A couple of other questions: I have a cat, he took one look at the string in my hand and pounced on it - any one have any good tips for discouraging this (incredibly cute) behaviour? And finally, why did the instructions the knitting stall man at the market gave me say to start off by doing a row of 100 stitches?!? The first few rows took me hours! :crying:

Thanks for a very useful site - I'll be back, I'm sure!

[Ingrid]

When you knit every row, you get garter stitch. Actually, you also get garter stitch when you purl every row. This is because the front of a knit is a v and the back is a purl bump. Each time you turn your work, you're putting the v and the bump on different sides. That's why garter stitch has the ridges--purl bumps on both sides.

When you knit one row and purl one row, you're getting all the v's on one side and all the bumps on the other for stockinette stitch.

What did the man tell you to cast on for? What are you supposed to be making with these 100 stitches?