FROM and IN are not the same thing.
Traditional knitting is worked from the left delivery needle to the right receiving needle.
Knitting in the opposite direction means the delivery needle becomes the needle in the righthand and the receiving needle, in the left.
Because of this, everything is reversed.
If you are doing stockinette stitch, the stitches are worked FROM one specific side of the fabric.
This means that to work a row in the opposite direction one is use to, you would do the opposite type of stitch.
The Purl stitch is just the Knit stitch worked FROM the opposite direction.
If the pattern instructed to purl across the row, the same effect could be had if the work was knit FROM the other side.
Left leaning decreases (SSK) and Right leaning decreases (K2tog) from the traditional side of the work will change if worked IN the opposite side.
Therefore:
Side A Side B
K2tog==P2tog
SSK= =P2togTBL
(P2togTBL? Well, sort of. Nice idea, but you need to manipulate the stitches a little to have the correct orientation.)
Now you never need to turn you work.
