The Purl Stitch
The Purl stitch is the same resulting stitch as the knit stitch, if you were to look at the knit stitch on the reverse side.
Which style should you learn?
Well, if no one has given you a suggestion yet, and you're looking for someone to point to one method for simplicity's sake, I'll say try Continental. This features the yarn held in the left hand. But if you're up for it, try English knitting as well, which places the yarn in the right hand. The "best" method is simply the one you feel most easy with, the method you most enjoy. Each method has its own appeal. And at some point you'll find it quite handy to know both English and Continental knit stitches, because you can employ both of them simultaneously for a very efficient technique of doing color work (see "Stranding" in the Advanced Techniques section).
Continental Method
Also known as the German Method
And here is a short close-up shot:
Yarn is held in left hand. The middlefinger (or index finger) is used to push the yarn down and to the right, to where the right needle can easily push it back through the stitch. This method requires the fewest hand movements of any purl method, and is consequently the fastest (with the exception, perhaps, of the "Combined Knitting Method" of purling--see below). It is quite a feat of agility to execute this method, and is invariably awkward at first. I hope you'll give it a try, though. It has the potential to become fluid enough to be enjoyable. This is the method I use in the Continental purl videos on this site. Videos where the yarn is held in the left hand, all have a pink icon.
This method of purling, when combined with Continental Knitting, makes for a very fast ribbing. Here's a fast-paced demonstration of Knit 1, Purl 1 ribbing worked with these methods:
Here's a video link from a Finnish web site. She demonstrates a different approach to Continental knitting, that you may be interested in. This is how Elizabeth Zimmerman did it, although she confessed to disliking this purl stitch to the point of avoiding purling whenever possible.
English Method
Also known as the Throw Method or the American Method
And here is a short close-up shot:
Yarn is held in right hand, then, by necessity, wrapped around the right needle before pulling the stitch through. Videos where I hold the yarn in the right hand all have a blue video icon.
Combined Purling Method
This method produces a true purl stitch, but there is one important distinction: because the yarn is wrapped around the needle clockwise instead of the more common counter clockwise, the resulting stitch is oriented differently on the needle, and must then be worked slightly differently on the following round than would a knit stitch.
I've been told that this is an excellent method for knitting without looking (a good knitting method for blind knitters or those with poor eye site?), because you can feel whether you've come to a knit or purl stitch, because they're oriented differently on the needle.
Another reason this method can be appealing, is that because the yarn is held in the left hand, it has the speed advantage of Continental purling, and many people find it easier to manipulate than Continental.
One must be aware, however, that directions on standard patterns need to be adapted to accommodate the different stitch orientation. Decreases and increases, and other stitch directions, need to be done differently than described in a pattern, or the stitches need to be re-oriented before executing them.
Here's a site that has more info on knitting in the Combination way.
Norwegian Purling Method
No one at my 3 local yarn shops had ever heard of this method. I cameacross a description online, and, after much confusion, and the help ofone of the brilliant minds at my LYS (Local Yarn Shop), we finally gotit! A Norwegian friend has confirmed, "Yes, this is how the purlstitch is done!"
What's mind blowing about this method is that it's a purl stitch worked with the yarn in back of the needle. (!) Apparently, this is the most common method used in Denmark and Switzerland.
The trick to doing this right is to bring the rightneedle behind the working yarn before diving down into thestitch, or you end up with a YO between stitches.
Knitting Back
Not a practical substitute for all purling needs, but fine for working stockinette stitch. This produces the same exact stitch as the purl stitch, it just does it with the knit side still facing you. This is a great method if you are working a narrow piece of knitting, as when doing Entrelac, and are tired of having to turn the work every five stitches. With this method you can work a whole entrelac piece without turning the work! The limitation of this stitch is that you can't alternate it in the row with knitting, like to do ribbing. Well, you could I suppose, but you'd have to turn the workbetween every stitch, or learn how to purl backwards, too! (I know, it makes me dizzy just to think about it!)
This may look like "Left Handed Knitting," but you wrap the yarn the other way for that method.
