Learn How to Crochet the Adjustable Ring

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The adjustable ring is an underappreciated and amazing method for starting your crochet-in-the-round projects! I didn’t discover the adjustable ring until I had been crocheting for many years, but now I use it all the time. Sometimes called the adjustable loop or magic ring, it allows you to begin your crochet in the round without leaving a “hole” like you would create by working into or around a chain. Hats that are worked from the top down and amigurumi and baskets (like those found in the Interweave Crochet Fall 2020 issue) really benefit from this technique.

Rather than working into a circle of chains, the adjustable ring creates a loop of yarn with a tail that you’ll work your first round of stitches around. Don’t worry about the large hole in the middle of your work when you work that first round; simply pull the tail and watch the hole close tightly! Your stuffing will be securely contained inside Amelia the Flying Squirrel or a soft pinecone. The ring is a little awkward to work at first, so don’t give up the first time you try it. Grab your copy of Interweave Crochet Fall 2020 and follow the instruction below to make your adjustable ring!

How to Crochet an Adjustable Ring

Leaving a 4″ length, drape the yarn over two fingers (Figure 1), wrap yarn around your fingers and cross over as shown (Figure 2), insert hook under front strand, over back strand, and draw back strand through (Figure 3), twisting hook clockwise (Figure 4), yarn over, draw through loop in hook (Figure 5) (ch 1 made; Figure 6); *insert hook in ring, yarn over, pull up lp (Figure 7), yarn over, draw through both loops on hook (Figure 8) (sc made; Figure 9); rep from * as often as indicated by pattern (Figure 10), pull on beg 4″ length to close ring.

For amigurumi projects like the pinecones and acorns of the Autumn Medley Centerpiece or the adventurous Grahame the Badger, Amelia the Flying Squirrel, and My Deer Watson, the regular adjustable ring is perfect. If you are crocheting a hat or even the Strobile Basket, projects that might see harder wear, you can strengthen your ring by working a double ring. To work a double ring, just wrap the yarn around your fingers twice as shown in Figure 2. The double adjustable ring is harder to close but is my go-to for crochet hats and baskets.

Before you begin your wildlife amigurumi, pinecones and acorns or basket from Interweave Crochet Fall 2020, learn how to work an adjustable ring. You’ll love how easily it is to close the opening as you begin working in the round!

Happy crocheting,
Toni