Using a magic ring is my FAVORITE way to start off my amigurumi creations! It hasn’t always been, I was very intimidated by it at first, but now it’s my go-to when crocheting in the round.
Once you’ve practiced using it a few times it starts to become second nature. Then it becomes the easiest and cleanest way to start out your pieces!
To make a magic ring all you’ll need is your crochet hook and the yarn you plan to crochet with.
You’ll want to start out by holding the yarn in your left hand and the crochet hook in your right hand. Loop the yarn so that the “live” side (the side attached to the ball) is coming off the top of the circle (see the picture below). Pinch the yarn where it crosses itself between your thumb and pointer finger.
Put your crochet hook your circle so it goes underneath both the top of the circle and the live yarn.
Then use the hook to grab the live yarn and pull it up through your circle. You should now have one loop on your crochet hook.
You’ll now want to shift how you’re holding your crochet hook.
Place the live strand of yarn between your pointer and middle finger. Hold the hook in your right hand.
To hold the ring in place, pinch it between your thumb and ring finger while holding the live yarn taut between your pointer and middle fingers. You can also use your pinky for extra support when pinching your ring between your fingers.
This hand positioning is best demonstrated in the picture on the far right just below.
Next, make a single chain stitch by yarning over your crochet hook and pulling that loop through the one already on your hook.
You now have the basic ring constructed.
To complete the ring, you’ll need to alter it to suit the pattern you’re currently working on.
If your pattern says to “sc 5 in a MR,” that means you’ll need to make 5 single crochet stitches into the ring you’ve built.
The photos below illustrate step by step how to make a single crochet into the ring. Here are the written instructions to accompany them:
1. Insert your hook into the ring.
2. Yarn over.
3. Pull through the magic ring.
4. Yarn over.
5. Pull through all loops on the crochet hook.
6. And you’ve completed a sc in the ring!
Continue making single crochets in your magic ring until you’ve reached the total your pattern requires. In my example photos I make 6.
Then untwist your little loose yarn tail in the ring until it’s pointing in the same direction as your live yarn.
Pull this short yarn tail tight to close the magic ring.
Now you have a little closed ring! That will finish the first round that called for a magic ring.
I generally work in continuous rounds, so to start the next round you’ll need to locate the top of the first single crochet stitch you made in the magic ring. To do this I count back from my current stitch until I get to the total number of stitches I should have in my ring.
For example, if my magic ring called for 6 sc then I would count back 6 stitches from the most recent one to find my first stitch. I have black arrows in photos below pointing to this very stitch.
This may seem unnecessary, but I’ve found that the first sc can sometimes be a bit too tight and disappear on you. If you’re not careful you can accidentally skip it! And messing up the stitch count in the first round can hurt your project very quickly.
When it comes to crocheting in the round making the magic ring is the most complicated step. Each round after this one should be much easier, so don’t give up on crocheting yet!
If you’re a bit too intimidated by this process that’s totally normal! Just remember that it gets easier each time and eventually it becomes second nature.
It’s absolutely worth the investment to learn it because it gives such a clean, finished look to your projects.
So keep on practicing making those magic rings!
