How To Knit the Purl Stitch

From above, insert the right needle into the first stitch at the top of the left needle. The right needle should be pointing toward you and passing over, not under, the left needle.

With your right hand, wrap the yarn counterclockwise around the tip of the right needle, creating a loop. The yarn should be crossing over the right needle and pulled back to the right.

Keeping the yarn taut with your right hand, dip the tip of the right needle down to catch the bottom edge of the loop you just formed. In one fluid motion, push the edge of yarn back through the stitch on the left needle while pulling the left needle free of the stitch. Guess what? You’ve just purled.

Now repeat the process on the remaining row of cast-on stitches, always remembering to insert your right needle into the stitch from above and to keep your yarn in front of the needles. When you get to the end of the row, switch hands and repeat.