The purl stitch joins forces with the knit stitch to enable a knitter to conquer the world (the knitting world, at least)! You will often see the word purl abbreviated as p or P in knitting pattern shorthand.

The American method simply indicates that you hold the working yarn in your right hand. Knitters who use this style are often referred to as “throwers”.

Insert right needle through the front of the first stitch from right to left.

Wrap the yarn around the right needle tip counter-clockwise. (If you were to look straight down at the tip of the needle, you would see that the yarn is wrapping counter-clockwise.)

Keeping the yarn wrapped around the right needle tip, draw a loop through the stitch you first entered.

To seal the deal, slide the worked stitch off of the left needle. Your first purled stitch will now rest on your right needle.