Wow, it seems like every operation has some hitch that leaves me stuck. I cannot understand why I cannot create patches successfully. I am obviously not understanding some fundamental point about how to do this. Can someone help me figure out how to create a patch successfully? I can loft instead, sometimes, but then even that doesn't always work.

I am working through the surfacing tutorials and I am running into a myriad of problems. For one, I can't figure out how to split or break the edge of a specific curve so that I can make a loft. Can anyone explain to me what I am doing wrong or not understanding?