[knitgalore]

Awhile ago I asked for patterns for childrens dinosaur. So many of you responded and I thank you. But some directions call for a "magic circle". Can anyone tell me what that is, or where I might get instructions? Until I know what it is I can't start. Love this forum and thanks in advance.
Alberta

 

[TammyK]

Was is "magic circle" or "magic loop?" I haven't actually heard of "magic circle" before, but Magic Loop is a technique for knitting small circumferences (like socks, gloves, or other small tube-like projects) using a single long circular needle. There are number of videos that demonstrate the Magic Loop technique here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=knitting+magic+loop&aq=0

 

[deemail]

Awhile ago I asked for patterns for childrens dinosaur. So many of you responded and I thank you. But some directions call for a "magic circle". Can anyone tell me what that is, or where I might get instructions? Until I know what it is I can't start. Love this forum and thanks in advance.
Alberta

above is a video of the magic circle....it has become the new way to begin crochet work in the last few years....our patterns used to tell us to chain 'x' and join, then to sc inside the resulting circle 'y' amount of times.....now someone had devised this method to produce the same sort of thing but you do it a bit differently and it is totally adjustable after finishing the sc row....the finished center ring is really pretty and even and easily done...

 

[JudiBee]

Was is "magic circle" or "magic loop?" I haven't actually heard of "magic circle" before, but Magic Loop is a technique for knitting small circumferences (like socks, gloves, or other small tube-like projects) using a single long circular needle. There are number of videos that demonstrate the Magic Loop technique here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=knitting+magic+loop&aq=0

Thanks so much for the video site for the magic loop!!! I look at knitting small diameters with dpns and shudder at the thought of all that going on with three needles dangling and clattering - I would go mad!!! It's a cold,rainy,windy day in Southern California, just perfect knitting weather.

 

[TammyK]

Awhile ago I asked for patterns for childrens dinosaur. So many of you responded and I thank you. But some directions call for a "magic circle". Can anyone tell me what that is, or where I might get instructions? Until I know what it is I can't start. Love this forum and thanks in advance.
Alberta

above is a video of the magic circle....it has become the new way to begin crochet work in the last few years....our patterns used to tell us to chain 'x' and join, then to sc inside the resulting circle 'y' amount of times.....now someone had devised this method to produce the same sort of thing but you do it a bit differently and it is totally adjustable after finishing the sc row....the finished center ring is really pretty and even and easily done...

Ohhhhhhhhh....... It's crochet! No wonder I've never heard of it! I do very little crochet, so it's not really on my radar. Thanks, Dee, for the info! It's always fun to learn something new!

 

[Jessica-Jean]

Magic Circle is not limited strictly to crochet. It may be easier to start a round, knit-from-the-center project (hat, shawl, fingers, etc.) with a crochet hook to begin, but it can be done without the hook, too. It does make beginning with a tiny number of cast-on stitches much easier, and it lets you pull the 'tail' to tighten up the center hole to nothingness. Here's a link where she shows you how to do it: <http://www.stitchdiva.com/custom.aspx?id=229> Gotta love YouTube!

 

[deemail]

Magic Circle is not limited strictly to crochet. It may be easier to start a round, knit-from-the-center project (hat, shawl, fingers, etc.) with a crochet hook to begin, but it can be done without the hook, too. It does make beginning with a tiny number of cast-on stitches much easier, and it lets you pull the 'tail' to tighten up the center hole to nothingness. Here's a link where she shows you how to do it: <http://www.stitchdiva.com/custom.aspx?id=229> Gotta love YouTube!

good to know.....it's a learning day all round!.....lace knitting in the round is one of the next things on my list but i haven't done it yet...

 

[MaryE.]

Wow, eyeopeners! Thanks for posting the question and the exciting suggestions. It's what makes this forum wonderful. You find new techniques that you, yourself, had never thought about.

 

[MaryE.]

Jessica-Jean, the stitch-diva link didn't take me anywhere, if you can tell me how it's listed, I could look it up. I'm very interested to see what it says. I was fascinated by the crochet loop and would really like to see it applied to knitting top-down. Thanks

 

[Jessica-Jean]

OK. There are two ways to access the videos posted by StitchDiva. Either through the StitchDiva website:
<http://www.stitchdiva.com/> and look for the faint, small word 'tutorials'.
OR, go directly to YouTube <http://www.youtube.com> and search there for the StitchDiva videos.

Good luck.

 

[tarasmom]

IF U GO TO YOUTUBE YOU WILL FIND VIDEO'S ON HOW TO DO THE MAGIC CIRCLE. I JUST WENT THERE AND LEARNED HOW TO DO IT MYSELF. HAVE A CROCHET PATTERN THAT CALLED FOR THE MAGIC CIRCLE SO I CHECKED OUT YOUTUBE AND THERE IT WAS. SEEMS PRETTY EASY TO DO, JUST DON'T KNOW WHY U WOULD HAVE TO START A PATTERN OUT WITH THAT INSTEAD OF JUST JOINING YOUR CHAIN. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CROCHET PROJECTS.

 

[MaryE.]

tarasmom, I just took a crochet class with a woman who makes character animals and vegetables. She needs to be able to close the hole completely so the stuffing doesn't poke out and feels she cannot close them adequately with most techniques. This technique seems exactly what she needs. I mostly knit and I can see where it would be helpful in circular knitting where you want to completely close your holes. I found both the knitting and crochet magic circles and thought they were useful. The videos are designed to teach you how to do them with no further instruction and it sounds as if they were successful. I learned to use 2 circular needles to knit in the round from a video and some people learn to knit using nothing but web videos. Isn't it wonderful?

 

[tarasmom]

MARY E: GLAD U FOUND THE "MAGIC CIRCLE" TO BE HELPFUL. I FOUND THAT U CAN PULL THE CIRCLE COMPLETELY CLOSED AND IT IS TIGHTER THAN THE CIRCLE MADE WHEN U JOIN A CHAIN. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PROJECTS. KNITTING AND CROCHETING IS WHAT KEEPS ME SANE !!!! LOL ;-)

 

[MaryE.]

Learning about new techniques, all sorts of new ideas and gadgets is what makes this forum so good.