Magic Circle Explanation with Pictures!

The Magic Circle is used when you start a project in the round. Instead of doing chain 3(or more), slip stitching and working in that loop, you work in a larger loop and then adjust the loop  to close. The benefits to doing it this way are 1-it gives you a much larger space to work in so when you are making 11 or 12 stitches, you have enough room to get them in evenly and 2-it closes the hole in the circle pretty much completely which does not happen with the chain 3, slip stitch version.

I know of 2 different ways to make the Magic Circle, this is just the way I learned. If you have a way you love, by all means continue! This is just a guide for anyone who does not know of it to learn at least one way and make their life a little easier!

First loop your yarn around your middle and ring finger twice

Insert your hook under the 2 loops and yarn over

Pull the yarn through and make a slip stitch to secure the loop in place

From here you would work the pattern as normal, picking up from where it say to chain 3(or more) and slip stitch to make a loop

When you are finished working your stitches in the loop, it will look like this. From here is where you begin the process of closing the loop. You pull on the tail slightly and watch to see which of the 2 strands of yarn that make up the loop move. I have noted in the picture where you are supposed to look

When you see which strand moves, you are going to pull that strand by on the side that is closest to the tail, again noted. As you see in the picture, this will shorten the other strand and will bring the loop closed

From here, you pull the tail which will make the strand you were pulling disappear.

And you are finished! As you see, no hole! 

From here you would continue on your pattern, joining with a slip stitch or continuing the round. It seems complicated but once you learn it, it is easy as pie. It is a wonderful skill to know, especially if you make a lot of amigurumi or hats or anything in the round. It gives a much more clean and finished appearance.

I hope this helps and you have learned something new! Please message me or let me know if you have any questions.

Solid Granny Square Pattern

This is a basic square, a pattern that can be found anywhere, but I included it on the blog for quick reference! Forgive me-I am not a pattern writer, so I apologize if the phrasing is awkward!

Start with a Magic Circle (which I explained in another post) or chain 3 and slip stitch into the first chain.

Round 1-In the ring, chain 3.  Make 2 double crochet (henceforth noted as DC), chain 2, 3 DC, chain 2. Do this twice more. Slip stitch to the top of the chain 3 you began with.

Round 2-Chain 3 and make 2 DC in the top of the DC of the row below. *when you come to the chain 2 space from the row below, make 2 DC, chain 2, and 2 DC. Make 3 DC in the DC of the row below.* Continue from * to * 2 more times. You will have 1 stitch left, make a DC in each and slip stitch in top of the beginning chain.

Round 3-Chain 3 and make 4 DC in the top of the DC below, INCLUDING the 2 DC in the corner. *In the chain 2 space, 2 DC, chain 2 and 2 DC. DC across the row in every DC below, including the corner DCs (this row is 6)* Continue from .* to * 2 more times and you will be left with 2 stitches, again make a DC in each and slip stitch at the top of the chain.

And that is it! The last round can be done over and over to make the square larger. To change colors, at the slip stitch, when you put the hook into the stitch, instead of attaching the color you are working with, loop the new color around the hook and pull through for the slip stitch. Here are a few pictures to illustrate this:

Granny Square a Week-Week Thirteen

Pretty easy square this week. It is the

Centrific Square by Christal Groves

It kind of reminds me of tiles on the backsplash behind the kitchen sink in the house I grew up in. These will definitely need to be blocked before you do a thing with them.

This was done with Impeccable Arbor Rose and Bernat Super Value's Lilac

Until Next Week!

Granny Square a Week-Week Twelve

I was a little late in getting this week's squares together, so thankfully the one I had picked prior was an easy one!

Annabelle Iris Afghan Block By Margaret MacInnis

The pattern is a PDF that was posted on Ravelry. You need to register but it is relatively easy and quick(and free!), and you may find some awesome stuff on there.

Quite pretty and easy to work up, you can do this in as many colors as you wish and you won't spoil the integrity of the pattern. I know that sounds silly, but crocheters know what I mean: you decide to add in a few colors or do it all in one color and then all of a sudden the intricacies of the pattern are lost or it just looks way off.

So here we are:

Alternate colors: Vanna's Choice in Silver Blue and Cranberry. I love this color combination. Pictures do not do it justice.

Until Next Week!

Granny Square a Week- Week Eleven

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we are doing a Celtic Knot Square.

I followed this pattern

Celtic Knot Square by Carola Wijma

Don't be scared! It actually is quite easy once you get going. And if you have never followed a chart before this is a GREAT introduction since it has not only a written pattern but pictures, so it is quite easy to follow.

I did make some adjustments, mostly from my own mistakes reading the pattern but when I went back to the way the pattern had written, I liked my way better!

• In making the center square, I did 6 dc for the corners instead of 4. Mistake initially, fixed it, liked the 6 better.
• In the 2nd round to make the Celtic knot into a square, it calls for 3 dc in the ch 3 space, 4 dc , then 3 dc in chain 3 space. Again, I misread the pattern and did 3 dc in ch 3 space, 3 dc and 3 dc in ch 3 space. I fixed it and went back and did it the way I initially worked it up with 3-3-3 because the other way, IMO made it a bit bunchy.
• I had to do 4 colors this week so you could easily see the knot. 2 colors just blended the whole thing together.

This is one of those projects where you finish and you feel like you have accomplished something huge, when you know it was a piece of cake!

The extra colors were Vanna's Choice in Pink and Red Heart Soft in Off White

Colors are Vanna's Choice in Mustard and Taupe, Impeccable in Forest and Red Heart Soft in Off White

Until Next Week!

Granny Square A Week-Week Ten

This week's square is a larger one and came out very pretty. Again, one that looks difficult, but is actually quite easy.

Dream Catcher Granny Square by Sherry Welch

The adjustments I made are as follows:

• Round 3, it says to SC into the ch 1 space, when it is actually the ch 3 space.

• I skipped the repeating round 5, rounds 7 and 8 and round 10, mostly to keep it around the size of my other larger blocks, which are about 7-8 inches square.
• I omitted the last 2 rows because I was already at 7 inches square and the last 2 seem to be just for sizing.

As you see, I did this all in one color. I think you can see the details far better and the multiple colors does not detract from the final product. You will have to block this a bit, but not too much, surprisingly.

Vanna's Choice in Goldfish

Until Next Week!