Picky question

[dturner]

I have been knitting for about a year now, and I've basically been learning new skills as I've needed them. I have wondered about this a few times before, but I decided that it really didn't matter that much. Now I am making a pattern that states: "Begin with purl row." O.k., if you are using a long tail cast on (or knitted CO or cable CO), I know that you have already completed one row of knitting with the CO. So, do you count the CO row? Should I use the backward loop CO when the pattern says "begin with purl row"? Or if the pattern says to "knit first three rows," do you CO and knit two additional rows? Does it really matter? LOL

Thanks