Really basic question on knitting and purling

Factual Questions
1

So I was under the impression that purling was basically an upside down knit stitch–if you knit a stitch then turned it over and looked at it, you’d see a purl stitch.

But when I finish a row and get all my stitches from the left needle to the right needle, I turn the knitting over.

So is garter stitch (“knit every row”) basically a row of knit followed by a row of purl when viewed from one side or the other?

Let’s say I see a pattern for knitting a ribbed scarf that says “p3, k3, p3, repeat for 10 rows.” If I start and end the row with three purls, does this mean that when I get to the end of a row and turn the knitting over, should I then knit the stitches I purled when the knitting was turned the other way? In other words, does “p3, k3, p3, repeat” actually mean
Row 1: p3 k3 p3 (turn over knitting so right-hand needle with stitches is now in left hand)
Row 2: k3 p3 k3
etc.?
I have been making a ribbed scarf this way and it looks fine to me, but am I really creating stripes of knit and purl or am I doing stripes of stockinette and reverse stockinette, or something like that?

Also, when I see a pattern that says
Row 1: k2
Row 2: p2
can I take it for granted that they know I will be turning the knitting over, and I should be purling relative to the way I’m looking at the yarn? Am I supposed to be transferring stitches to the other needle or something?

I know these are such silly, basic questions, but all the resources I’ve looked at seem to take this knowledge for granted. Thanks for the clarification.

2

Patterns assume that you will be turning the knitting over, unless they explicitly say that they are knitted on a circular needle.

If your ribbed scarf looks fine, you are doing it right. If you weren’t, it would look like a weird blocky garter stitch. Yes, you are basically creating columns of stockinette and reverse stockinette when you make a ribbed scarf.

Are you sure the pattern you quote didn’t say “k3, p3 to end, repeat 10 rows”? Because if you ended the row in purl, not knit, then when you turned it over you would start in knit to make ribbing, so the directions for every row should be the same. If not, and it’s clear that ribbing is what you want, then it’s probably just a poorly written pattern - happens all the time.

Don’t feel embarrassed for asking - these are good questions. And what’s more, you’re right in your guesses for the answers. :slight_smile:

3

The second, if by stripes you mean vertical columns. In a ribbed scarf knit flat (as opposed to in the round, which is different), on the wrong side, you should be knitting the stitches you purled on the right side and purling the stitches on the wrong side that you knit on the right side. Which means, as you knit, it would go:

kk pp kk pp kk pp Row 1 (RS)
pp kk pp kk pp kk Row 2 (WS)
kk pp kk pp kk pp Row 3 (RS)
etc.

Viewed from the front, it looks like this, with the knits and purls “stacking”:

kk pp kk pp kk pp
kk pp kk pp kk pp
kk pp kk pp kk pp

When knitting in the round, to get garter stitch you must knit one round and then purl the next, because knitting every row results in stockinette. So, I guess you could say that viewed from one side, garter stitch is a row of knit followed by a row of purl. I’m not sure on a purl stitch being an upside down knit stitch; I’ve honestly never thought of it that way. I’d have to get some stockinette going and look at it, as right now all I’ve got on needles is lace.

Question one: Yes. Turning the work is understood in most patterns, though some will explicitly tell you when to turn if it differs what’s expected, like when working short rows. There *are *people who knit “backwards,” but generally (I’m not going to say always, because god only knows what some knitters get up to on the internet) they’re aware of it and write patterns according to the standard conventions.

Question two: Nope. Not unless the pattern explicitly tells you to.

Something that might interest you are the technical articles at Knitty. (You have to scroll down to get to the articles in the archives; current issues aren’t archived until they’re old issues.) Interweave Knits usually has one article on techniques per issue, though it’s rather expensive to buy just for the articles, though I’ve been lucky enough to like enough patterns in the issues that had useful technique articles. You might want to check out KnittingHelp.com, too for how-to videos.

4

You’re not silly. When I started knitting I thought that unless the pattern told me I was supposed to turn the work, I knitted onto the right needle, then for the next row, I knitted back to the left needle. :smack:

I made a very interesting dishcloth, I can tell you. Basically, if you’re right handed, you knit from the left needle onto the right needle. Then when you’re done, turn the work so your empty needle is back in your right hand and do the next row.

5

Thanks so much for your explanations!