question about purling

[nonniemous]

inchainz  and I have been discussing this randomly, and I've been searching for an answer in all my knitting books, but I haven't found one.  So I come here, to the knitting group, fount of all wisdom re: knitting, and I ask:

When purling, if the first leg of the stitch is behind the needle, do you go through that instead, or do you always default to the leg that's in front of the needle?  Seems to me it would make things twist funny.  I know when I knit, I go through the first leg, front or back.  Purling front leg only can also result in a twist, so ...

Yeah, okay.  This is probably a really stupid question.  But it's itching at me!  Anyone have any wisdom to share?

Comments

[sedge]

Come in from behind the leading leg of the stitch - so if you're knitting from right to left, and the right leg of the stitch is behind the needle, come in from behind that for purling.

[nonniemous]

Thank you! For some reason, it was never explained to me--or I never picked up on that being the proper technique. I've been trying to remember to knit that way, but wanted to know if that was actually correct. Good to know that I'm finally, after 8 or 9 years of knitting, getting it right! ;-)

I should have stuck to tatting...