The purl stitch is the opposite of the knit stitch. The needles are held in the same way, but the yarn is woven in front of the needles. When using straight needles and alternating between a row of knit stitches and a row of purl stitches, you get the stockinette stitch. This is the most popular use of the purl stitch. You can also alternate knit and purl stitches in the same row to achieve the rib stitch. You will see that all stitches can be combined in different ways to achieve thousands of different textures.