M1 increases and holes

I’m working on a baby blanket that’s in the shape of a flower. I can’t get the center piece right! The pattern says to "knit across, (m1) 2x, turn . . . " for a series of rows. The specifc directions to m1 are to “make a twisted loop to place on the right hand needle.” I’ve been increasing with the M1A. The problem is that this leaves a gigantic hole at the end of each row that gets even bigger when I try to knit into the edge sts. So I frogged the center piece and am waiting for advice before I continue again! What am I doing wrong? :knitting:

Wrong M1 maybe. Pick up the yarn between 2 sts with your left needle and knit through the back loop of it so there’s a twist in the st. This is really M1L/R. But the m1a is sort of a backward loop which should have a twist in it; just make sure when you knit it the next row, you leave the twist in it.