Magic ring

How to work it

1. Make the loop

   

   A short way from the end of the yarn, lay the yarn in a ring so that the strand that leads to the ball crosses the tail. A tail of about 6 inches (15 cm) is enough to weave in later. Hold the ring at the crossing, where the two strands overlap. You can lay the ring over two fingers of the hand that holds the yarn, or pinch the crossing between thumb and finger. Nothing is on the hook yet.

2. Put a loop on the hook

   

   Put the hook through the ring from the front, the side that faces you. Behind the ring, catch the strand that leads to the ball in the head of the hook, and draw a loop of it back through the ring toward you. Then make one chain: take the yarn that leads to the ball over the hook from back to front (up behind the hook and over its top toward you), and draw it through the loop on the hook. One loop is on the hook. That loop is not a stitch, and in single crochet (UK double crochet) neither is the chain.

3. Round 1

   

   Work every stitch of round 1 into the ring. For each single crochet, push the hook through the middle of the ring, from the side that faces you through to the back, so that it passes under two strands: the ring itself and the tail lying along it. Take the yarn over the hook, the same way as in step 2, and draw it back through the ring, to the side that faces you (two loops on the hook), then take the yarn over again and draw it through both loops. One loop is on the hook after each stitch. Work as many as round 1 of the pattern says; six is a common start.

4. Close the ring

   

   When round 1 has all its stitches, hold them and pull the tail. The ring shrinks until the stitches meet in the middle. One loop is on the hook.

5. Go on

   The pattern says whether the rounds are joined or worked in a spiral. In a spiral, work the first stitch of round 2 straight into the first stitch of round 1. In joined rounds, first close round 1 with a slip stitch into its first stitch, then chain 1.

At a glance

Also called

magic circle, magic loop, adjustable ring

Used for

the first round of a toy, so that the stuffing does not show; granny squares and other pieces worked in rounds; any piece that should have no hole in the middle

Chains before round 1

1 for single crochet, 2 for half double crochet (UK half treble), 3 for double crochet (UK treble), or the number the pattern gives

In a pattern

"6 sc in magic ring" means six single crochet worked into the ring.

How many stitches

Whatever round 1 of the pattern says. Six single crochet is a common start.

The tail

About 6 inches (15 cm) is enough to thread on a needle. It is woven in firmly when the piece is done.

If it will not work

Start from chains instead: chain 4 and join them into a ring with a slip stitch, or chain 2 and work round 1 into the second chain from the hook.

Tips

• Weave the tail in firmly afterwards, in more than one direction. It is what keeps the ring shut.

When it goes wrong

I cannot get the ring to work at all.

Start from chains instead. Either chain 4 and slip stitch into the first chain to make a small ring, or chain 2 and work the whole of round 1 into the second chain from the hook. A chain start keeps a small hole in the middle.

I am afraid it will come undone.

Do not cut the tail short. Weave it round the ring, then back the other way, before you trim it. For a piece that needs a stronger start, use a double ring.

Left-handed

The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.

Variations

• Double ring. The yarn goes twice round before the stitches are worked, which makes a stronger start.