she responds to a soft touch

the back-side of stockinette stitch is gorgeous.
her name is purl.

the knit side's masculinity is expressed with
vertically stacked chevrons, consummate V's and strong support.
the purl side expresses its femininity with
gently soft undulating horizontal curves.

time spent on knitting this week has been short.
I have been rather busy working on jewelry prototypes.
despite that, I did learn something this week.
something beautifully essential.

purl stitch.

my learning of purl was postponed and postponed.
so, I have been working on the knit stitch. controlling tension.
I switched from continental style to american style, at least until knitting feels more natural to my tension riddled, inexperienced hands.

purl stitch.
everything in reverse.
even the tension is backward...
I have to work to maintain enough tension in the purl stitch.
I have to work to achieve looseness in the knit stitch.

the mechanics of purl came fairly easily.
mastery will take a soft but steady hand... and some time.