Magic circle or ring

 The magic circle (as I like to call it) a.k.a the magic ring and probably other names as well. 

In my opinion is one of the most essential keys to Amigurumi. Having the beginning of a piece looking its best, makes all the difference. 

Seeing stuffing is probably the worst in my book but messy beginnings are a close second. 

The goal is to have your end result like this...

Not this...

Maybe your thinking, I don't see much of a difference. 

Lets put them side by side and see if you see it now. 

As you can see the center of the magic circle is completely closed vs the ch 2 method has a center hole. For me, no matter how many times I try, ch 2 always leads to a center hole. Drives me nuts!! 

It is time to learn the magic circle!!

Let's begin...

Holding the yarn tail over the fingers and into the palm of your hand, pinch it to your index finger with thumb.

Wrap the working yarn over the middle and index finger, crossing over the yarn tail, pinch it in place on index finger with thumb.

Secure running yarn behind loop on fingers.

Insert hook under loop and pull the working yarn through.

Give it a little twist to have a snug fit on your hook.

hook your working yarn and pull through the loop on hook.

And look at that, your done!

There that wasn't so bad, was it? Okay maybe trying a few more times might be needed.

Now you are ready to start your stitches.

Create your stitches around both tail and loop, 

When you have reached your desired amount of stitches, move the tail out from inside the loop.

Grab the tail and pull until the hole is closed. 

Most (I have noticed) stop right there BUT I have found that when working the next round the center will become loose a bit. 

Well with amigurumi, that just wont do.

After completing round 2, grab the tail and pull it snug again and this time put 3 knots on it as close to the work as possible. 

How I do that is by laying the piece flat, making a loose knot and holding my finger over it while pulling, this lays the knot right at the starting point of the tail, then I repeat 2 more times. The reason I do 3 is to make the knot larger that the stitches so no way is it going to work through and loosen.

And there you have it, a nice magic circle with no hole and secured to not come loose.

I hope this picture tutorial was helpful AND if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Happy crocheting!