Norwegian Purl

This is a variation of the Continental Purl stitch taught to me by my mother, who was from Germany, but had a Scandanavian knitting instructor when she was a girl.

Most continental knitters hold the yarn behind the work for knit stitches, but bring the yarn in front for purl stitches. In the Norwegian purl stitch, the yarn is held in back, just as for the knit stitches.

Knitting pals who have observed me make the Norwegian Purls usually are aghast, thinking I am going through too many gyrations for each purl stitch. Yes, the Norwegian Purl does require more steps to execute, but it’s fast and easy, if the yarn is held just right.

The Norwegian Purl eliminates the need to move the yarn from back to front and back again after each knit and purl stitch in the same row, so it is fast when doing ribbing, or any other combination of knit and purl in the same row.

Here is a great video illustrating the Norwegian Purl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1u5rmqrH8&mode=related&search==