English abbreviation · Crochet
What does magic ring mean in crochet?
magic ring means magic ring.
In French: cercle magique
How to work it
The magic ring, written “cercle magique” in a French pattern and “mr” or “magic ring” in an English one, is a starting ring whose centre can be pulled tight. It avoids the small hole that a closed chain leaves in the middle of a disc, which matters for toys and hats.
Wrap the yarn once around two fingers to form a ring, with the yarn tail hanging towards you. Put the hook through the ring, catch the working yarn, the one that comes from the ball, and pull it through the ring. Make one chain to lock the loop.
Then work the stitches of the first round, usually single crochets, by putting the hook through the ring and enclosing the yarn tail under your stitches. Count them as you go: the pattern gives their number.
When all the stitches are made, pull the yarn tail to tighten the ring. One of the two strands slides and closes the centre, the other stays in place. Pull until the hole disappears, and then secure the tail.
In a pattern
Rnd 1: 6 sc in a magic ring (6)
Take the round “Rnd 1: 6 sc in a magic ring (6)”. “Rnd 1” means the first round. “6 sc” means six single crochets. “in a magic ring” means you work them into the starting ring, and not into stitches of a previous round, since there are none yet. The number in brackets says 6: the six single crochets, which will be the base of the next round. Once these six are made, you pull the yarn tail to tighten the ring. A French pattern writes the same round “Tour 1 : 6 ms dans un cercle magique (6)”.
US or UK?
The gesture is identical, only the name changes. French patterns write “cercle magique”; American patterns write “magic ring”, or shorten it to “mr”, and British patterns often say “magic circle”. All three mean the same adjustable ring. The stitches worked into it do change name between conventions: a single crochet is “sc” in an American pattern and “dc” in a British one.
Common mistakes
- Pulling the wrong strand to close the ring. If nothing moves, you are pulling the hanging tail instead of the strand that slides. Pull each strand in turn: the one that tightens the centre is the right one.
- Leaving a tail that is too short. A tail of less than about ten centimetres slips out of the work when pulled. Keep a tail long enough to hold in your hand and weave in afterwards.
- Letting go of the ring while you work the stitches. It opens and the stitches slip. Pinch it between thumb and forefinger until the last stitch of the round, then count before you pull.
A tip
A magic ring comes undone if you let go of it. After pulling the tail, secure it with a knot or a slip stitch, and put a marker in the first stitch of the next round. Check your count before closing: six stitches, no more and no fewer.
Try it with a row from your pattern
Here is a row that uses it. Replace it with a row from your pattern: every abbreviation the reader knows is underlined, and its meaning shows on hover.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in a magic ring (6)
Other ways to write it
cercle magique— French abbreviationmr— English abbreviation