Generic double bed, gauge 12

Putting the first row of stitches onto the needles. Everything else hangs from it: if the first row is wrong, the piece is wrong.

Taking a stitch off its needle and putting it somewhere else: on the needle next to it, on a needle on the other bed, or a few needles in from the edge. It is the most frequent thing hands do on a machine after knitting, and every change of stitch pattern goes through it.