I should ride the short bus

So the SO says to me after purling a row and turning his work to knit across... wow, these stitches are a lot harder to knit now. It got me thinking. I noticed that too but just thought that stockinette sucked harder than garter. Why is that?

Further investigation in my learn to knit books showed, I can't follow pictures. I do it all wrong. I systematically twist all of my purls and I didn't even know it. Why can't books just scream at you when you're doing it wrong? I mean nobody likes the evil drill instructor slavedriver who makes you scrub the floors with a toothbrush, but at least it gets the job done well and the floors are clean, right?