After having viewed many of the free patterns I make available, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “what is a magic ring?”  You may hear or read variations on the word magic ring.  It can also be called a magic loop or magic circle.  Whatever the name it is referred by, the technique is universal.  For the purposes of this post and as instructed in all of my patterns, I will refer to it as a magic ring.

Yes, it sounds mysterious and complicated and you may wonder, ‘why should I learn this technique?’.  The answer is quite simple: try it once and you will never go back to your old method.

The magic ring is used when crocheting in the round.  More often than not, when crocheting in the round, you are instructed to chain 2-4 stitches, join to the first chain and work a number of stitches into the loop formed.   Have you ever noticed, however, that when you are done, you end up with a little hole in the middle of your work?  The magic ring eliminates this hole.  You have total control over that space.  You can have no hole or even a bigger or smaller one.

It is a great technique to put into your crochet tool belt, especially if like me, you enjoy crocheting amigurumi.

It is sort of difficult to explain, so I think a visual is called for in this case.  I looked for a clear, detailed video on this technique and found this tutorial by Crochet Geek.  try it and let me know what you think: