Magic Ring (right-handed)
Looking for the left-handed instructions? If not, read on…
What is this ‘Magic Ring’, anyway?
A magic ring is a way to begin crocheting in the round by crocheting over an adjustable loop and then pulling the loop tight. The advantage of the magic ring method (below, right) is that, unlike the regular “chain 2, x single crochet in 2nd chain from hook” method (below, left), there is no hole left in the middle of your starting round.
L: ch2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 2 sc in each st around.
R: magic ring, 6 sc in magic ring, 2 sc in each st around.
How do I make a Magic Ring?
Please note: in the following photos, the starting yarn tail is always on the left and hanging down. The working yarn begins on the right and is then picked up over my left forefinger in Step 2.
- Make a loop a few inches from the end of your yarn. Grasp the join of the loop (where the 2 strands of yarn overlap) between your left thumb and forefinger:
- Insert hook into the loop from front to back. Draw up a loop:
- Ch 1. Note: this does NOT count as a stitch:
- Insert hook into the loop, so you are crocheting over the loop and the yarn tail. Draw up a loop to begin your first sc:
- Complete the sc. Continue to crochet over the loop and the yarn tail until you have the required number of sc for your first rnd (6 sc shown here):
- Grab the yarn tail and pull to draw the centre of the ring tightly closed:
- Begin your second round by crocheting into the first stitch of the first round (below, left). At the end of round 2 your work will look like this (below, right):
You’ll never go back to your old method again, I promise!
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Please note that I respond to comments here on the blog, so please return to this post to see my reply, or check the above box to subscribe to comments on this post by email. -June
Venna said
Oh, my gosh!! It’s so beautiful.
marion said
hello,
these explications with pictures are very, very useful…it`s really great to show it in this way. i thank you !!!
Ella Runciter said
Thank you so much for these clear, easy-to-follow instructions with photos! They were very helpful and much appreciated.
Páscoa! « Paths of Life said
[...] Comece com um magic ring de 4 sc. Rnd 2: Faça 2 sc em cada sc – 8 sc no total. Rnd 3: *2 sc num st, 1 sc no próximo [...]
DianaG said
thank you, it’s been bothering me that there is always a hole in the middle of my amigurumi things… I hope I can grasp this and use it
gonna give it a try soon
KristaS said
Thank you so much
This is very comprehensive, SO much nicer than how I was doing it 
Thanks again!!!
Cina said
So good tip ! I Love it !! thanks
skrunkycat said
Wow I actually found a tutorial where the pictures matched the instructions clearly and everything was pointed out, not assuming you already know what they mean!
Thanks a bunch I am happy!
Kirsten said
I just began learning to crochet a few days ago, so naturally I had no idea what to do when I tried to follow my first pattern and saw “SC 6 into magic ring”. This tutorial, when paired with another one that made it a little easier to see how to keep a grip on both the loop and the crochet, was IMMENSELY helpful. It took me a couple of tries, but I eventually figured it out. My first ring was rather sloppy, but it worked!
Britin said
I find the magic ring to be next to impossible and prefer working in a continuous spiral but your pictures and explanations are much more useful then the ones found in the Creepy Cute Crochet book. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish my friends wedding present now.
Thank you!
Melissa said
Thank you so much for this! I’ve tried half a dozen different tutorials on the internet and this is the one that I finally got!!! You win!
Kira said
Lol thank you for replying June! But I believe I have it now! Still stuck on the cone pattern…
Virkad nåldyna « a-e handmade said
[...] Virka 6 fm i en magisk ring. Här finns bilder och förklaring hur man gör. Det är på engelska men bilderna är lätta att följa och se hur man gör. -> magisk ring [...]
Bonnie said
Thanks so much for the magic circle technique-am crocheting your Alpaca pattern and this is working out great- I have been crocheting for about 49 years -I started when I was 6 with my Mum and don’t know how I got by without this fabulous starting stitch. Thanks also for the great pattern- my grandkids are anxiously awaiting their toy Alpacas.
Amy said
Wow….this is seriously a phenomenal trick! Thanks for sharing. =)
Jan said
Thanks so much for this technique. It’s the first time I’ve tried it and it’s really nice to not have the hole!
Janetta said
when i tried multiple different types of magic rings, when I pull
the tail it doesn’t tighten. Theres another loopy thing that prevents it from tightningwhy is that???
Lynda A said
Thank you so much for the pictures and the wonderful instructions! I went to all sorts of websites and saw magic circle lessons on youtube, but I just cannot get the circle to work until I found your website! Your step-by-step instructions are very good and useful. Thank you very much!
June said
Janetta: there is another type of magic ring called the double ring. I suspect you must have been using that. The double ring is more difficult to tighten – you have to do it in stages:
1.Pull the end a little, to figure out which of the 2 rings is drawn tighter when you do
2. Grab the OTHER ring and pull that tight
3. When it’s fully closed, grab the end again and use it to close the second ring
This is why I prefer the single loop magic ring shown in my tutorial – it’s much easier!
Mario Day 1 — Kim's Crotchet Blog said
[...] way. So I had to play around with making a smaller size square. I used the Magic Ring; found at PlanetJune, and through trial and error figured out which amount of single crochets in the ring would produce [...]
jane said
Thanks for this. I’d tried other tutorials on the magic ring, but always been confused by what to do after pulling that first loop through. At last!! I now understand and have bookmarked your instructions for the future. My chickens will no longer have holes in their heads!
Jane
x
tiny crochet heart pattern : julie kundhi said
[...] Tiny Heart (the one on the left) Make a magic ring. R1: chain 1, sc into loop 7 times, pull loop closed, join with sl st to chain 1 R2: sl st into 1st [...]
Nancy J said
Thanks! Yay. It works so well.
willow said
Great tutorial. Thankyou!
%$#*&!!! said
I’m so frustrated. I can’t do this stupid magic loop. I’m an inexperienced crocheter and the photos don’t show which end is the loose end and which end goes to the yarn. It doesn’t say which end is pulled up to make a loop or anything. I hate it when I can’t figure out something that looks so simple.
June said
I’m sorry this isn’t clear to you – as I said in an earlier comment, the starting yarn tail is always on the left and hanging down in all the photos.
You should be able to see the overlap by looking at the first two photos – the first photo shows the yarn wrapped over my fingers, then the next one shows the loop being held together with my thumb at the top of the loop (where the ends cross).
I hope that helps!
Virkförklaringar – svenska/engelska/amerikanska « a-e handmade said
[...] Klicka här för bilder hur man gör en magisk ring (engelska). [...]
Tony said
A quick question what do you do with the tail after you tighten it? do you weave it in immediately? or do you leave it hang for a bit ? I can’t see where it went after you’ve finished round 2.
June said
Tony, if you’re making something like an amigurumi, you can just leave the tail hanging on the wrong side (the inside in the case of an amigurumi) – there’s no need to weave it in at all! For other projects where both sides of the work will be visible, you can just leave it dangling on the wrong side of the work until you’ve worked a few more rounds (or until you’ve finished the piece), and then weave it in.
In my example, the end is on the reverse side, but I snipped it short so that it wouldn’t show in the pic and confuse people by hanging down. I hope that clears things up for you!
tiny four-leaf clover pattern : julie kundhi said
[...] a magic ring. R1: chain 1, sc into loop 5 times, pull loop closed, join with sl st to chain 1 R2: It might be [...]
Tessel said
This was very helpful, thanks a lot!
Blaize said
I find this confusing, because in the second photo, the yarn that goes off to the right is in FRONT of the loop, and in the third photo, the yarn is suddenly magically behind the loop, with no explanation as to how it got there. Then it says “draw up a loop.” Draw which yarn up?
I know I’m a beginner, but I don’t think of myself as a totally stupid person, yet I cannot understand this explanation, or, really ,any other tutorial I have seen for the “magic” loop. It’s frustrating, and I’m just going to have to have someone show me In Real Life.
June said
Blaize, the yarn is only held in the loop by my left thumb and forefinger. I’m sorry if I’ve confused you.
You’re actually right that to accomplish the third picture, the long yarn end (the one that goes to the ball of yarn, not the short starting end) will be pulled to *behind* the loop so that you can grab it with the hook, but there’s no knot there; it’s only my fingers holding the loop together, so that’s easily done – I actually just hold it at the point where they cross, so there is no obvious ‘in front’ or ‘behind’. All that matters is that you:
a) Hold the loop together with your thumb and forefinger
b) Insert the hook from front to back and use it to grab the yarn that goes to the ball before bringing the hook back up through the loop to the front
The loop won’t hold together by itself until you do the ch 1, so don’t release it from your thumb and forefinger until you’ve completed step 3.
Blaize said
Thank you for the clarifications. I will try again.
andrea muñoz triviño said
hello . i want to know if is possible that you send to me the model of yoshi in amigurumi.
thanks so much i´ll be possible send it to me in spanish, to my e – mail
thank you very much
Freya said
Thanks for the tutorial! Way more helpful than the book I’ve been trying to decipher!
Emily said
I just love your pieces! I see your stuff on etsy and you’re just wonderful! Thanks for the patterns!
sue said
Thanks for the clear explanation. I’m left handed, but right-handed instructions are really no problem — the secret is to sit with your back to the screen!
June said
You’re welcome, Sue, but I do have a left-handed version too!
Jess said
Thank you so much for this! I can’t tell you how helpful it is. I spent two hours trying to learn this and finally found your instructions. The other sites had good pictures but you just couldn’t see what was going on. Thanks to your pictures and instructions I finally realize what I was doing wrong and I made my first magic ring
Kati said
Hi June, maybe you could update your instructions and writing the “loose end being left” next to the pictures, I tried and tried and tried and tried and threw everything away thinking i´m stupid… and after all i read the comments and got it
Thanks for this great tutorial, when you got the trick its really easy!
Kati
June said
Thanks Kati, I’ll do that right now
Il Ciocco di Quercia » Blog Archive » Angelo Rosa said
[...] fare un magic ring con 4 [...]
Shanti said
Hi June!!
I just wanted to let you know that I linked your wonderful Magic ring tutorial, to a pattern in my blog… hope you don’t mind!
Thank you for your clear tutorial!
http://wiresandyarns.blogspot.com/2010/05/siena-dress.html
June said
I don’t mind at all – I’m glad you like my tutorial
Your dress pattern is very cute, btw!
hannah said
*mind blown*! thanx for the help
Moriarty: two colour stripey crochet beanie « The little house by the sea said
[...] To start: with your main colour, make an adjustable ring by making a loop with your yarn with the tail end of the yarn in front of the working yarn, insert your hook into the loop and draw the working yarn through, then chain 1. I’d show you how to do this myself, but I accidentally ripped off my thumbnail yesterday and my hands are in no fit state to appear in photographs, but there is a good tutorial with pictures here. [...]
Line said
Thank you – I’ve been reading patterns and they all start with a magic ring -now I know what that is
My first weekly project – finish a baby cocoon « Project-A-Week spot said
[...] suggest that you use a magic ring (http://www.planetjune.com/blog/tutorials/magic-ring-right-handed/) instead of the first row. Trust me, it will look much [...]
Magische ring | Amigurumis said
[...] videootje kan je vinden bij Crochet Me en een heel omstandige Engelse uitleg vind je bij Planet June This entry was posted in Technieken. Bookmark the permalink. ← Draakje Afstudeerbeer [...]
Charles said
Would you please share where you learned this? I enjoy chasing references to find wonderful things.
(Of course, if you learned it from someone instead of from a book, then I’ll just … sigh.)
June said
Charles, I don’t remember if I first heard of the technique through Crochet Me or somewhere else, but quoting my original Magic Ring blog post from 2007:
Hope that answers your question!
Stitching myself | Balbuljata said
[...] If you do not know how to make a magic/adjustable ring, follow this link: http://www.planetjune.com/blog/tutorials/magic-ring-right-handed/ [...]
Aubrianna said
Hello but I like your crochet planetjune!!!??????
Tori said
Im sorry but I really dont understand this. Im sorta mentally challenged (not really, its just hard for me to understand instructions). If you had a video maybe that would be better? Just a tip
June said
Hi Tori, I know some people have problems with text-and-pictures instructions – making a magic ring video is already on my to-do list! Check back here soon
Tori said
Thank you =) Btw, great job with the website- One of my top crochet sites x)
Holly said
Fab tutorial! I only learned to crochet yesterday and I still found this straightforward and easy to follow. Thanks so much for posting it
Suzanne said
Hello, thanks for the pictorial. Will try it tomorrow. I have tried 50 times to make basic amigurumi. I think I am losing track of stitches. I am getting holes and stuffing showing through. Using right yarn and hook( I think) could it be tension. It looks good until I stuff and them looms Lacey. Help! My little girls are waiting so patiently!
June said
Hi Suzanne! There are a few reasons why you could be getting holes:
Crochet in both loops (if you crochet in back loops only the stitches will stretch when you stuff them)
Use a hook 1-2 sizes smaller than recommended for the yarn you’re using, e.g. for worsted weight yarn I typically use an E (3.5mm) hook
Tension is important – make sure you’re wrapping the yarn through the fingers of your non-hook hand so that your hook only pulls through just enough yarn to form each stitch
Don’t overstuff – if the stitches start to stretch open, stop adding stuffing at that point!
Hope that helps!