The mystery of the Magic Ring

Want to start working in the round to make amigurumi but completely put off by that “impossible” magic ring?

Don’t panic - I’ve got you.

First off, if you’re a newbie crocheter you don’t HAVE to do a magic ring - you can simply create a starting ring by making a chain of 4 stitches, slip stitching into the first chain to make a closed circle and then working the first round of stitches into the centre of that circle.
Easy huh? So, why not just do that? Why bother with that pesky Magic Ring at all?

Well the problem is, if you start with a chained circle, you always end up with a hole in the middle - there’s no way to tighten it up - and that spoils the look of your ami, you might not mind it at first but the more you get into making ami, I promise you, that hole will really start to bug you!

The big benefit of mastering a Magic Ring is that you can pull it up super tight and VOILA! ….no hole! Have a look at the images below to see the difference…

3 rounds with a chain start - with hole in centre.

3 rounds with a Magic Ring start - no hole!

So how do you make one? Well there are actually lots of different methods out there - check out You Tube, Pinterest, Insta - there’s loads of different ways, you just have to find the one that works for you.

If you’d like to see a photo tutorial of the way that works for me, click HERE. There’s lots of photos and a detailed description talking you through every step, which will look a bit daunting at first but it’s just a slow motion description of a technique that in the end will only take a couple of seconds to do and will be satisfying every time you do it!

I think it’s easier to pick up from a photo tutorial than a video - I find with a video by the time I’ve managed to copy the first bit, I’ve missed the next bit and spend half my time putting the crochet down, scrolling the video back then having to get yarn, hook and hands back into the position they were when I left off - it just doesn’t work for me. A series of photos can’t race ahead of my hands like a video so I find them much easier to follow.

Even with photos to follow it can take a bit of practice to get the knack but you will get there. Try to think of it like when you learnt to ride a bike as a kid…..you couldn’t get it, kept wobbling, couldn’t steer, couldn’t get both feet off the ground, then suddenly…. you got it and were flying along, no looking back! 

Same with a Magic Ring, once you’ve got it, you’ve got it and in no time you’ll be doing it with your eyes closed!
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Find my Magic Ring Photo Tutorial HERE.