How to … m1L and m1R … and to never forget which is which …

On the knit side

m1L : make 1 left, (left slanted increase)

.

.

With the left needle pick up the strand between 2 stitches, from front to back and knit through the back loop.

.

.

.

m1R : make 1 right, (right slanted increase)

.

.

With the left needle pick up the strand between 2 stitches, from back to front and knit through the front loop.

.

.

.

.

.

And here is the trick to remember and never forget: (watch the front leg that is closest to the knit side: the red leg in the pics)

           

See how the front leg is pointing to the                    And here the front leg is pointing to
left ? This must be m1L (make 1 left), right ?         the right. This must be m1R (make 1
…                                                                                  right)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the purl side

This is a little different and a bit more complicated to explain, but once captured, it is very easy to remember. The m1pL (make 1 purl stitch to the left) and m1pR (make 1 purl stitch to the right) are described as seen on the knit side (often the right side of your work). In fact on the purl side it is harder to see a significant difference in direction of both increases.  So, m1pL is left leaning on the knit side. Consequently, the m1pR is right leaning on the knit side.

m1pR : make 1 purl stitch right, (right slanted increase as seen from the knit side)

.

.

With the left needle pick up the strand between 2 stitches, from back to front and purl through the front loop.

.

.

.

.

.

m1pL : make 1 purl stitch left, (left slanted increase as seen from the knit side)

.

.

.

With the left needle pick up the strand between 2 stitches, from front to back and purl through the back loop.

.

.

.

.

.

.

And now the trick.

As said before right and left in the purl increases refer to the knit side.

                       

See how the front leg is pointing to             The front leg is pointing to the left.
the right ? This is m1pR that                       This should be m1pL that matches
matches a m1R at the knit side.                  a m1L at the knit side.

Memo – if ‘left’ and ‘right’ don’t love you 😉

Now, if you don’t want to hurt your brain with ‘right’ and ‘left’, just think of increases leaning away from or leaning towards a marker and watch the legs closest to the right side which is often the knit side.

On the knit side: leaning away from a marker in the middle

  marker

and on the purl side: watch the back leg closest to the knit side leaning away from a marker in the middle

  marker 

Well that’s it. I never ever think about left or right anymore. I think of increases leaning away from a marker or towards a marker …