SO I just taught myself to knit a couple months ago. I can only do a basic stich so I don't know a whole lot. WHat is the difference between  knit stiches and purl stiches? And does anyone know a website that has really good instrutions I would really love to learn to make hats and mittens also. Thanks

Youreally ought to get yourself an instruction booklet with pictures that you can follow, to keep as a good reference guide.   I haven't look for a while but when I use to teach knitting classes I would suggest the "I taught myself to Knit" booklet.  To Purl you hold the yarn in front of needle and insert needle into front of stitch going right to left then wrap yarn around needle by going over then under(which is opposite of knit stitch).  Very hard to explain in words I personally need pictures.  I would google knitting and look for a sight that appeals to you but I believe you can find tutorials  that can show it.  I wish I could name one but I haven't ever search for one. 

I just last month knitted a hat & scarf for two of my granddaughters and my daughter tells me they love them and tell everyone they see that their gramma made it for them.

Good Luck & Happy Knitting,

jannymarie

Go to Ravelry.com. There are so many helpful people there, and they are so patient and welcoming with beginners. This website expanded my knitting capabilities in ways I would not have thought possible. There are tons of references to helpful video tutorials in the techniques forum. Good luck!

It may be helpful to know that most knitters fall within a couple of groups (although there are hundreds of different knitting methods). For standard Western knitting, you can hold the yarn Continental (in the left hand) or English (in the right hand). The videos you see will be one or the other. You can experiment with which hold feels more natural to you, but the stitches are made the same way in the end.

Stitches are mounted on your left needle (assuming you are right-handed) with the right leg in front, left leg in back. Regardless of whether you are doing a knit stitch or a purl stitch, you insert your needle into the front of the stitch (l to r for knit, r to l for purl), and wrap the working yarn counterclockwise. Some methods (combined) have you wrapping clockwise on purls an knitting into the back of the stitch on knits, but I'd stick with the standard methods until you understand the process, then you can determine if you'd like to knit something other than standard Western, which is what most patterns are written for.

ETA: This is one of the most referenced sites. There are pictures and video tutorials that are very easy to follow.

KnittingHelp.com

Catherine, if you will search for knitting video tutorial, you should get dozens of links. Also, if you have a local yarn shop (LYS), they will be  happy to help you out. (They'll be happy-ER if you bought the yarn there, but they also recognize that a lot of people who start out with Red Heart from WalMart eventually move up to the nicer yarns that are carried in knit shops.

As a quick answer to your question, the "purl" stitch is just the backside of a "knit" stitch. If you knit every row, you get "garter stitch", and both sides look alike. If you knit one row, purl one row, knit one row, purl one row for the whole piece, you are making "stockinette" stitch. The knit side -- usually meant to be the outside of the garment -- looks like little rows of v's:  VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV  The purl side -- usually the inside of the garment -- looks like little rows of u's UUUUUUU

Here's the secret..... THESE ARE THE ONLY TWO STITCHES!  It's true! Every fancy lace scarf, every durable kids' sweater, every fancy cabled afghan is made up of knit and purl stitches, along with some other kinds of manipulations (knitting two stitches together, throwing the yarn over the needle to make an on-purpose hole, etc), but basically it all comes down to that basic loop, the knit stitch.

Good luck with your internet search, and do try to locate a local yarn shop. They probably have knitting groups, too!

--Lynda in Oregon

www.knittinghelp.com is hands down the best site for knitting help.  I didn't find books very helpful when I was learning.  You can also stop in at a local knitting and yarn store for in person tips.  It's hard to learn it all without a little one on one guidance.

do a Google search for knitting videos on utube.  I find them very helpful.