Basics of Left Handed Knitting Part 3

Hold the needles in the same manner as you do for knitting: empty one in your left hand, filled one in your right.

Unlike with the knit stitch, to purl hold the working yarn in front of the needles.

1. Insert the point of the left needle into the first loop from left to right, bringing the left needle in front of the right needle.
2. Wrap the working yarn around the tip of the left needle from bottom to top around the front of the needle.
3. Draw the yarn through the loop on the right needle.
4. Allow the loop to drop from the right needle.
5. You've made your first purl stitch!

Continue to the end of the row. All the loops should have been purled from the right needle to the left one. Turn your work and switch hands with the needles. If you continue making rows by alternating full rows of knit and then purl, you will wind up with a pattern called Stockinette Stitch. This stitch has two distinct sides and is what people most commonly think of as knit fabric. The knit side is smooth, and the stitches form little V's. The purl side is bumpy and closely set.

This is a basic and versatile method of casting off, or ending your work. I'm showing it from the knit side, but you can cast off from the purl side and even "in pattern" (where you follow a textured pattern while casting off). Practice keeping the cast off stitches loose: it's easy to make this too tight so the edge draws up.

1. Start on the knit side of the work.
2. Knit the first two stitches.
3. Using the right needle, pick up the next-to-last stitch on the left needle and lift it over the last stitch. Allow to fall off the needles. You should have one stitch left on the left needle.
4. Repeat across the row.
5. When you get to the last stitch and it's on your left needle, cut the working yarn leaving a tail of about 6".
6. Draw the end through the last stitch and pull gently to draw up the stitch and secure the work.
7. Weave the yarn ends (at both ends of the work) through several stitches on the wrong side of the work. Cut close to fabric.

Gauge

Gauge simply means how many stitches per inch (or centimeter) you get with your personal knitting tension and the particular needles and yarn you've used. If you're making something like a pot holder it's not that critical, but with most other items you must calculate this number when starting a project.

To measure your gauge, cast on 20 stitches and knit 20 rows of stockinette stitch (alternate rows of knit stitch with purl stitch). Ideally, you should cast off and block the piece before measuring (see below). At the minimum, measure this little swatch from the knit side, counting from the tip of each V shape to see how many stitches you have per inch across the fabric. Measure going up and down to see what your vertical gauge is.

The instructions for your pattern will tell you how many stitches per inch you need to get the right measurements in the finished product. If you have too few stitches per inch (the stitches are too big), try going down a size - getting smaller - with your needles. Switch to larger needles if you have too many stitches per inch.

Blocking

Blocking is the process of hand washing your project and then carefully shaping it on a flat surface to the right size and shape. Wool is very malleable while wet and can be adjusted up and down a bit. Blocking will also smooth the stitches and help them settle into place - this is where a lot of your little tension problems will go away as if they never happened.

Gathering Your Supplies

Casting on and the Knit Stitch