Make 1 purl stitch: m1p, m1pL, m1pR

This tutorial explains an increase method that involves lifting and working into the bar between two stitches to create a purl stitch. It can be worked two different ways, these are described as ‘left’ and ‘right’ – m1pL and m1pR.

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This tutorial includes:

What IS a m1p anyways?

Make 1 purl or m1p is a generic way to say ‘create one new purl stitch’. Whenever you see m1p you will create a new purl stitch using either m1pL or m1pR. Both create a new purl stitch, but they have very slightly different effects. We use the generic term (simply stating m1p rather than specifying m1pL and/or m1pR) because most of the time it really doesn’t matter which you use.

A related knit increase is m1, which which creates a new knit stitch (more on how to m1, m1R, and m1L here), but sometimes you want to make a new purl stitch instead.

M1p Video

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How to m1pL (make one purl left)

Insert the left needle tip under the bar between stitches, from front to back, lifting it onto the needle.
Purl this new loop through the back. This is one new purl stitch made!

Here you can see the bar between the stitches – that’s the bar you’ll pick up in order to work the increase.

Here’s what it looks like once I’ve inserted my left needle tip under the bar between stitches, from **front to back**, and lifted it onto the left needle.

I purl this lifted loop through the back. This twists the loop, and creates a new purl stitch.

Here is my completed **m1pL**, on the right needle.

How to m1pR (make one purl right)

insert the left needle tip under the bar from back to front, lifting it onto the needle.
Purl this loop. This is one new purl stitch made!

Here’s what it looks like once I’ve inserted my left needle under the bar between stitches, from **back to front**, and lifted it onto the left needle.

I insert my right needle through the lifted loop, and then purl it. This twists the loop, and creates a new purl stitch.

Here is my completed **m1pR**, on the right needle.

How do paired m1p increases look?

As the m1 purls start to stack up you can see how the increase line looks. The purls have a slight lean to them (to the right for a m1pR and to the left for a m1pL). This lean is more obvious on the WS of the work.

For this swatch I’ve worked make 1 purl left (m1pL) before the centre stitch and a m1 purl right (m1pR) after the centre stitch.

In this swatch I worked a **m1pL**, purled two stitches at the centreline, then worked a **m1pR**, on every second, or purl side row.

What about the other side of the work?

On the other side of the work (the stockinette side in this case) a make one purl right (m1pR), looks like make 1 right (m1R), and a make one purl left (m1pL) looks like a make 1 left (m1L). They are opposites. Check out our make 1 (m1R, m1L) tutorial here for more info on these increases.