to purl
- verb
- /pɜrl/
- Specialized
- Am I supposed to sit home knitting and purling... while you slink back like some penitent drunk?
- knit and purl
- purl two
Examples
-
He and Grant, buck naked by a fire, knit one, purl two.
-
The knit stitches in the front, purl in the back.
-
Knit one, purl two.
-
You can create beautiful patterns in your scarf by knitting a row of knit and then purl one to add texture.
-
To finish the edge of your knitting project neatly, remember to purl the last few stitches.
-
In her knitting class, she learned how to purl correctly to achieve a raised stitch design.
Compounds
- Specialized
To make a bumpy stitch by bringing yarn to the front and putting the needle through a loop
Surface Forms
Etymology
Purl (verb) probably comes from a word like pearl because the stitch makes small raised bumps that look like tiny beads. So to purl is to make those 'pearl-like' bumps in the fabric.