Magic Ring Tutorial!

I decided to do this for a pattern I put up for sale...It was already 4 pages long and the file size was huge, so I decided to put it here to save space, and make the tutorial free! I would never want to make anyone pay for a tutorial. If you want to check out the turtle pattern for sale, its on Etsy and Ravelry!

I love using the magic ring, I think its the best way to start amigurumi as it leaves no hole, unlike other methods. It might seem a little hard at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be doing it as fast as ever! This is my first tutorial, I hope it helps!

Grab the tail of your yarn and lay it across your palm, the tail sort of draping over your index finger

Well, the tail should drape around your index finger, NOT
your palm lol

Then you'll want to take your tail, still behind your index finger, and wrap it around your middle and ring fingers TWICE

You'll want to leave a longer tail, long enough to hold it
with your pinky and pull to close later.

Now, holding the tail with your pinky finger, and your hand kind of closed around the yarn to hold in place, insert your hook underneath both of the loops wrapped around your middle and ring fingers. Catch the yarn from your index finger (the yarn in back) and pull up a loop. Ch 1 (or however many, depending on what stitch you're using. I will be using single crochets). 

Now you can do however many stitches your pattern needs. For this tutorial, I'm doing 6 single crochets in the ring. You do it the same way you did your ch 1, by inserting the hook under both loops, catching the yarn behind your index finger, pulling up a loop. YO and pull through both loops, and there you go! One Single crochet! When you the right number of stitches, you'll want to pull the loop on your hook to make it bigger, so when we're closing the ring, no stitches will be lost!

Now its time to close the ring!

Now you have two loops...but which one to pull? Well, once you get used to using a magic ring, you'll know which one to pull. Its actually the yarn right next to your tail. To make sure, especially if you're a beginner, is to gently pull on the tail...Don't pull too hard!

When you pull on the tail, you'll notice one of the loops starting to close. See the side that's closing? Pull the opposite side of that same loop. (You should pull on the right side of the ring, again, right by the tail.)

When you pull the tail, one loop should start to close,
the other one won't move.

Pull that loop and tightly close your ring!

Now you will have one large loop left. Its time to finish the ring! Pull the tail tight, and congrats! Your ring is finished! When I was first starting out, I would get this far, but the tail just would not move! Pulling so hard, the yarn would actually break! It turned out I was pulling the wrong loop  in the step before, the first loop we pulled. I just thought I would mention this because it took me a long time to figure out why that was happening lol. 

So if you're having a lot of trouble pulling your tail to finish your ring, make sure you're pulling the right loop when you're first closing the ring.

I have no idea why I left my tail SO long lol.

Now just put your hook back in the loop and tighten it. If you're not sure where to start the next round, just count your stitches starting from the hook!

Now you'll just continue with the pattern, usually 2 sc in each st around, make sure you put a stitch marker in the first st of the round, you don't want to lose your place! (I know a lot of people put a stitch marker in the last stitch of the previous round, you can do it either way, but I always put it in the first.)

Of course, move the stitch marker up every round! 

And that's it! I hope this will help people that are having trouble, I know I had some trouble when I was first learning. If you have any questions, just leave a comment! You can also email me with questions at empressofpalamecia@gmail.com.

Have fun making your amigurumi!!