How To
Ask Patty: M1 with a Twist
The little question below fills my nerdball heart with joy. You know I love nothing more than to break it down. So settle in, and let’s talk about our dear old friend, the make 1 (M1).
Hi Patty,
How can I avoid the little gaps/holes that can occur when doing a M1? I’ve tried being a bit looser with my knitting through the loop on them, being tighter, tying to keep it even, etc., but I always seem to end up with a little gap where I made the extra stitch. I’m obviously doing something wrong, but I’m not sure what?
Thank you! Kind regards,
Eileen
Dear Eileen,
This is not you! If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this very question, I’d be sipping Mai Tai cocktails on my private island.
Unlike increases that are worked into a stitch, like a knit front back (kfb) or increases worked into the row below, like a left or right lifted increase (LLI or RLI), the M1 increase which is worked between two stitches poses a unique challenge. How do you squeeze a new stitch in between two other stitches without leaving a gap underneath?
It’s all about the running thread.
Let’s start by looking at the relationship between the yarnover (YO) and the make one (M1). They are basically the same stitch with one vital difference: do you work the stitch open by putting the needle into the leading leg (or the hole) or do you work the stitch twisted by working into the trailing leg?
Here we see the running thread from the row below and the working yarn waiting to be pulled through the next stitch:
The running thread is the working yarn that runs between stitches. In a M1, we pick up the running thread (the working yarn) from the row below to travel over our needle, and then we work into the trailing leg to twist it. In a YO our working yarn from the current row takes a detour over our needle before working the next stitch. Then, on the next row, we work that through the leading leg and we get a hole.
See the relationship?
On the left: Running thread lifted before working a m1l. On the right: Yarnover
On the left: Running thread lifted before working a m1r. On the right: Backward yarnover
Which bring us to the dreaded little hole that can come with the traditional M1 …
m1l with little hole
M1 r with little hole
This can happen when we’re working with a yarn with no elasticity, like a cotton, but it can also come from the running thread size—lifting the running bar can feel too tight.
Now that we understand the connection between the YO and the M1, let’s look at my favorite M1 method.
Meet the twisted yo.
To create a M1 left, make a traditional YO (yarn front to back over needle). On the next row, you’ll see that YO sits with its leading leg to the front.
On the left: YO as usual. On the right: that YO on the next (in this case RS) row.
Work the YO through the back loop; this twists the YO to the left:
To create a M1 right, make a backward YO (yarn back to front over needle).
On the next row, you’ll see that YO sits with its leading leg to the back:
On the left: Backward YO. On the right: Ready to work backward YO
Work the YO through the front loop; this twists the YO to the right:
You can make your YO on a RS row and twist it on the WS row. If you need your increase to land on the same row as a traditional M1—which would lift the running thread that was the working yarn from a WS row—make your yo on the WS row and twist it on the following RS row.
My favorite is the twisted YO making the YO on the RS row and twisting it on the WS row. Here’s my unblocked, still on the needle sample:
An here are the close ups of my blocked swatch. You can see that twist of yarn fills the gap nicely:
Remember, your mileage may vary. Since each knitter’s working style is different, and each yarn will affect the finished look, try out both methods. Whether you go for the traditional M1 or add a twist, you can get results you like. Now where’s that Mai Tai?
Patty in your Pocket
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Sheeer magic! Thank you!!
Thank you wise and wonderful knitting genius!
I always have a hard time following instructions illustrated with photos. Is there a link to a video tutorial you could suggest? Thanks.
Yes, I think I need a video as well.
I agree-need to see it done. Reading it doesn’t work for me.
Yes, I agree with all the above comments. I need to see it done because those photos do not work for me either.
Truly, there’s nothing a video would show that isn’t in the pictures. Read the relationship between a YO and M1, then just try it on your needles. There’s nothing complex. If you’ve worked a YO, then you know you put the needle in the hole to work it on the next row. Here we are NOT putting our needle into the leading leg (in the hole) but into the trailing leg and that twists it. That’s it.
Sorry, I can’t see how you get from one pic to the next. A video would be great.
Thanks Kay! I was just about to request the same thing.
Maybe it’s just me, but I never noticed a little hole with my M1s, or it just doesn’t bug me;)
It’s not just you; I’ve never had the problem either. I’m fact when I’m doing “m1 every (x) rows” I have trouble finding the previous m1. I’ll have to look next time I’m doing an m1 to see if there’s a hike and I’m just not noticing it.
Can this be done with knitting in the round?
Of course! Why wouldn’t it. You can do a YO in the round right? 🙂
Saving this and wondering if I can make it work if knitting in the round..like on a thumb gusset on a mitt?
of course. Try reading it again and focus on the WHY, not memorizing. I said nothing about it having to be worked flat. You can work a YO in the round right? Read the relationship between a YO and M1, then just try it on your needles. There’s nothing complex. If you’ve worked a YO, then you know you put the needle in the hole to work it on the next row. Here we are NOT putting our needle into the leading leg (in the hole) but into the trailing leg and that twists it. That’s it. Just try it.
How does this technique work when knitting in the round
of course. Try reading it again and focus on the WHY, not memorizing. I said nothing about it having to be worked flat. You can work a YO in the round right? Read the relationship between a YO and M1, then just try it on your needles. There’s nothing complex. If you’ve worked a YO, then you know you put the needle in the hole to work it on the next row. Here we are NOT putting our needle into the leading leg (in the hole) but into the trailing leg and that twists it. That’s it. Just try it.
Such a great explanation. Thank you Patty. Of course sometimes you want the hole to show – as in mitred squares for eg.
This is the invisible increase I use. It’s lovely, & works in either flat knitting, or in the round
https://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/05/very-nearly-invisible-increase.html?m=1
Every increase can be done flat or in the round. That is a lovely, but totally different increase with different reasons to use it. It is called a right lifted increase (RLI) and there’s also a left version (LLI).
These work into the row below, so they cannot be stacked too closely together. They are lovely in waist shaping where the increases are over 4 rows apart.
These also need to be worked into a knit stitch, so they aren’t used when increasing up from a rib, as M1s are. All stitches have different purposes. There’s a place and need for each one. If you’d like to learn the LLI, here’s a video.
https://youtu.be/e6xiidUorNk
This is a different increase, although nice.
Yes, it’s different. It also leaves no holes
Would this work for increases on socks? Most patterns I’ve seen do increases one round and then knit the next alternating until desired number of stitches, would this process count as one round increase and one round plain knit? Would the YO round be the increase round? Hope that makes sense
A YO adds a stitch right? So it’s an increase! Don’t try to memorize, but use you’re own knitter’s logic. When you do a YO on one round or row, doesn’t that change the stitch count? Now when you work that YO on the next row, it doesn’t right? NO difference. Read the relationship between a YO and M1, then just try it on your needles. There’s nothing complex. If you’ve worked a YO, then you know you put the needle in the hole to work it on the next row. Here we are NOT putting our needle into the leading leg (in the hole) but into the trailing leg and that twists it. That’s it. Just try it.
OMG. This is brilliant.
Geniius. I am going to use this on my next top down raglan sweater.
I think that we all need to play around with this idea for knitting in the round. It is just which way to twist the stitch when coming around to the next knit row and maybe using a marker if there is not already one there.
You can work a YO in the round right? Read the relationship between a YO and M1, then just try it on your needles. There’s nothing complex. If you’ve worked a YO, then you know you put the needle in the hole to work it on the next row. Here we are NOT putting our needle into the leading leg (in the hole) but into the trailing leg and that twists it. That’s it. Just try it.
As always, thanks for making the magic clear!
Very helpful! I’m always amazed at how one stitch can be substituted for another according to preference – it’s a never ending rabbit hole of possibilities!
Just have to say that I love your photos and explanations. More Patty please!!
I’ll have to read this again at the end of my work day. But it did not make a lot of sense to me in the wee hours this morning. Does one have to set up the increase in the row before by creating a yarn over and then finish the increase in the subsequent row when one arrives at the yarn over?
Thank you! This finally makes sense to me. That’s what I’ll try.
My question too. Do I need to mark the row below the increase row for the yarn over or is the yarn over actually the increase and you close the gap on the next row? In stockinette that row would be a purl row? Maybe I need another cup of coffee and another read.
The coffee helped. You did address this in that paragraph that begins “ You can make your YO on a RS row and twist it on the WS row. Geez. Thank you Patty for this lesson and your patience.
That’s what it translates to me too, and it is quite clever, really! It’s a bar increase, essentially. Depending on the knitter, needle size, and plumpness of the yarn, the gap underneath it can be unsuitably visible, and/or the bar between the stitches just isn’t long enough for twisting the stitch to make it lean left or right. In essence, she’s placing a yarnover in the row below to create a longer bar for the bar increase. That’s how I picture it, anyway.
Thank you. The little hole made me crazy and now I can hop off that crazy train!
I struggled for years with M1’s. They always created a hole until I finally realized that the stitch between should be lifted with the LEFT needle to accomplish the twist. You show that so clearly here in the photos, but for many years I just didn’t understand that simple detail that makes all the difference!
I’m sorry this did not make any sense. I might need a video.
OMGosh, I’ve been doing my YOs backwards this whole time!!!
AHA! And if I was doing a yarn over purl wise, it would just be opposite lean of what the knit lean should be? Trying to teach myself how to adapt knitting in the round to purling in the round using Portuguese knitting technique. Basically making the item from inside out…I think
Well, I get it and used it with so much success by using the same mental and physical approach as the traditional m1. Just deferred to the next row. Really is intuitive. Very cool! Thank you so much!!
This is a great tip! It took me several times in reading the article & studying the pics to really understand what to do. I think my struggle was 2-fold: 1) I was confused at first about which instructions went with which picture. 2) The caption under the 1st set of pics under ‘Meet the twisted YO.’ didn’t make sense to me. And from that point on I was in the fog. The way I now interpret that caption is ‘On the pic on the left: YO as usual on the RS. From the pic on the right: This is what the YO (from previous row) looks like on the WS.’ After that, I do think the ‘M1 with a Twist’ is fairly intuitive. Here is my ‘in a nutshell’ explanation:
M1 or M1L: YO as usual, M1R: reverse YO; then on the next row (whether it is a RS, WS, or In-the-Round) work the YO in such a way (knit or purl in the front or back loop) to twist it rather than make an hole/eyelet.
Patty, THANK YOU – until now, I couldn’t understand why my M1L and M1R did not look symmetrical. One was always looser (made bigger hole) than the other.