How to crochet a magic loop was one of the first tutorials that I posted.  Here is an updated version.  The steps are all the same but I felt it needed updating a bit! 🙂

This is a crochet tutorial, for a technique used to start crocheting “in the round”, for example when making a mandala or some amigurumi.  Please don’t confuse it with the magic-loop knitting technique!

How to crochet a magic loop

Step 1

Holding the tail yarn, wrap twice around two fingers, so that the working yarn is behind your hand and the tail yarn is at the front.

Note from me: There are several good tutorials for crocheting a magic-loop.  Some of these recommend only wrapping once and only using one finger.

I prefer to loop over two fingers, to make sure there is space to crochet “into”.  Also, by holding both the tail and working yarn when working the first row, it is less-likely to come unravelled from the middle.

Don’t forget to leave enough yarn to pull through the tail though.

Step 2 

Holding the tail yarn under your ring finger (to keep it tight), turn your hand over and pull the first wrap under the second wrap.  [note, you will also need to tension the working yarn so that you can “work it”, I wrap it round my little finger to do this]

Step 3

Chain the number of stitches required by your pattern using the tensioned working yarn

As you can see, I’ve chained 4 stitches in this example

Step 4

At this stage I like to slip the loop off my fingers, so I can hold my work a bit more “normally” to work the stitches

Note: Be careful when you work your first stitch into the magic-loop that you don’t twist the starting chain.

The chain should be on the right-hand side of your first stitch, and not twisted

Step 5

Your pattern will advise how many stitches to “work” into the loop.

Make sure you work over both the working and tail yarns to secure the tail.

Once you have completed the first row, unless your pattern says otherwise, you can pull on the tail yarn to close the loop.

And that is it, you’ve now learned how to crochet a magic loop and can continue hooking your pattern!

Why crochet a Magic Loop not a Starting Chain?

Some patterns will advise starting with a chain, closed with a slip stitch.  Generally, you could use a magic loop instead if you wanted to.  The only time this might not be advisable is if your pattern has a large number of stitches made in the starting chain as you might need the extra space allowed by a starting chain.

In this picture below you can see the difference, on the left is a magic loop and on the right is a starting chain 5 (you can start with fewer chains to make the hole smaller, but you do need enough to be able to crochet into).  Both are right, and both are good in their own way, they just look different!

I hope this tutorial helps you to start off your crochet “in the round” with the magic-loop technique! 🙂

Happy hooking!

Jo

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