Why I need to  learn how to make a magic circle
The hole is small at first but it doesn’t stay like that
As my crochet has progressed I’ve often seen patterns refer to making a magic ring. This mysterious technique allows you to make a small crochet circle with a closed up centre. It looks very neat for many types of crochet projects but is a must  in amigurumi techniques that are used in crochet toy making. I think it would be better to use this technique for starting off the zapper in my pattern for Iron Man fingerless mittens. In fact, I may use it to start all new crochet projects from now on. Many blog sites, websites and You Tube videos offer tutorials on how to make a magic ring but the best that I’ve found are provided by June Gilbank at her site www.planetjune.com.
Why I need to  learn how to make a magic circle
That central hole is too big
June presents many patterns and tutorials, many of the focusing on things made using amigurumi.

Tutorials on making a magic circle: Planet June

June has two very clear photo tutorials, one for people who crochet right-handed and one for left-handers:

June’s video tutorials

Why I need to learn making a magic circle
The finished zapper
June has also produced two excellent video tutorials, which I have embedded below. These have been produced by June Gilbank and are copywright to www.planetjune.com but freely available on her YouTube channel, with many of her other video tutorials.    

Making a magic circle for right-handed crocheters

In the video that you can access below, June shows the magic ring method for people who crochet right-handed:

Making a magic circle for left-handed crocheters

This video tutorial from June shows how to make a magic ring if you are left-handed:

An alternative from Craftsy

I’ve added in a new link to this tutorial as I came across an excellent photo tutorial on Craftsy by Andrea Sanchez: These tutorials are so clear and so useful I can highly recommend them. Before I saw them I struggled with the whole concept of a magic circle but no longer…