Ordinarily, stitches are knitted in the same order in every row, and the wales of the fabric run parallel and vertically along the fabric. The process of knitting has three basic tasks: (1) the active (unsecured) stitches must be held so they don't drop; (2) these stitches must be released sometime after they are secured; and (3) new bights of yarn must be passed through the fabric, usually through active stitches, thus securing them.
In some cases, a stitch may be deliberately left unsecured by a new stitch and its wale allowed to disassemble. Since a typical piece of knitted fabric may have hundreds of wales, warp knitting is typically done by machine, whereas weft knitting is done by both hand and machine. Other simple textures can be made with nothing but knit and purl stitches, including garter stitch, ribbing, and moss and seed stitches.
You decide how long (approximately) it should take for someone to learn the basics of knitting, and then become intermediate knitters, and on to advanced. This concept is related to the pattern you have and, if in your pattern it says there are supposed to be , for example, 5 stitches to an inch and you can make only 3, than you should and need to change the size of your knitting needles. The earliest examples of this technique are thought to have been knitted around 1850.
Even if you're a pretty proficient knitter, this isn't the time to learn a new technique or work with a skinny fingering-weight yarn that will take forever to knit up. Once you learn the basics of knitting, you will want to continue progressing to more advanced stitches and knitting patterns.
Knitting Pattern Traditional Shetland Shawl are great for beginners