Let's Give Charlotte a Hand

"I have never heard of purlwise or knitwise. Would you please explain this stitch to me? Thank you." -- Charlotte

Editor's Comments

The terms purlwise or knitwise are commonly used when slipping a stitch. A pattern might say something like this: "slip the next stitch knitwise." What this phrase means is you should act as if you're about to knit the stitch, but instead, you're slipping the stitch over in that position to the opposite needle, which changes the orientation of the stitch. For example, slip, slip, knit (ssk) tells you to slip the next two stitches one at a time, knitwise from the left needle, and then knit them together in their new position; your resulting stitches will lean to the left. -- Editor

Slip, slip, knit (ssk)

Slip, slip, purl (ssp)

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