Zen Knitting

It depends on what your knitting goal is.

If your goal is *ribbing*, then you would look at the stitches as they face you and knit the knit stitches (they look like Vs) and purl the purl stitches (they look like bumps).

If your goal is seed stitch, then you would look at the stitches as they face you and purl the knit stitches and knit the purl stitches.

To see videos illustrating both techniques, go to http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips and scroll down the page until you get to Basic Stitch Patterns. You can select the video for the stitch pattern you want to see demonstrated in either Continental style or English style knitting.

Edit: Perhaps we don’t understand what you’re asking about. Let me try again. Usually the “knit 1 purl 1″ sequence is in an edging. It can be used to create either of two common edgings:
Seed Stitch, in which the knit stitches and the purl stitches alternate with each other like the black and red squares on a chess board, like this:
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xoxoxo
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Ribbing, in which the knit stitches and the purl stitches line up in columns, like this:
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xoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxo

The edging could be at the bottom of an item or it could continue up the sides of the item. The purposes of edging include providing a style element as well as preventing the edges of an item knit in stockinette stitch from curling.

The best source for information on how many rows are done in the “k1p1″ pattern is the instructions you are following for the item you are knitting. Usually, the pattern will tell you to “k1p1 for ___ inches” or “k1p1 for ____ rows” for a bottom edging or “keeping the first 5 stitches of each row in k1p1 pattern, knit in stockinette stitch for 8″ total” for a side edging. Perhaps there’s a note in the instructions that you missed?

It sounds like you are doing a rib stitch. What you purled on the previous row, you knit now and vice versa. Unless you are doing moss stitch or seed stitch.