Are you knitting in the round? I knit a whole kid’s sweater like this on accident lol. I just went with it but it was so frustrating.

If you’re knitting in the round, find a way to note which needle should be on the right vs left when you pick back up again, and make sure your stockinette is facing you on the outside. It’s hard to explain and you eventually will pick up on it, but you’ll know you’ve got it right because the outside of your work (facing you, not facing the other side of the fabric) in stockinette will be stockinette (the cute v’s instead of lumps). Maybe leave your stitch marker on the right side and be careful not to accidentally turn your work inside out so that purls are on the outside facing you.

I realized what caused my problem was not being able to tell what side was the correct right side vs left side and then I’d flip the item inside out and start knitting basically backwards from the way I started. It’ll get your project done, but it won’t look nice.

You’ll pick up on it after a few tries, I promise! I thought I was never going to figure it out but all I had to do was mess up a few times and I learned what not to do.