{"title":"How to Knit Magic Loop","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/knitting/how-to-knit-magic-loop","category":{"slug":"knitting","name":"Knitting"},"creator":{"name":"LoveCrafts","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbc0ikNuFbIQkSQAu6WlrIQ","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLMCgtufyFE"},"tldr":"Magic loop knitting works sleeves, socks and hat crowns on one long circular needle. Eight photo steps, the cable length you need, and how to stop laddering.","totalDurationSeconds":598,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["32 inch circular knitting needles","interchangeable circular knitting needle set","knitting stitch markers","blunt tapestry needle","knitting row counter","small scissors"],"materials":["chunky weight knitting yarn","sock weight knitting yarn","scrap yarn for practice"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Cast On Your Stitches With a Long Circular Needle","text":"Cast on an even number of stitches with whichever method your pattern calls for. Merion uses 16 in chunky yarn, which is a sensible practice number because you can see every loop. The cast on method makes no difference to what follows. The needle does: one circular with a cable of at least 32 inches, and longer if you own one."},{"number":2,"title":"Count Off Half the Stitches on the Needle","text":"Count halfway along the cast on row and pinch that spot. With 16 stitches you want 8 on each side of your fingers. Push that first half down the needle toward the cable until the stitches slide off the tip and sit on the flexible part. Nothing will run. The cable holds them the same way the needle does, because it is one continuous piece."},{"number":3,"title":"Pull the Cable Out Into a Loop to Split the Stitches","text":"Hold the half that is resting on the cable, then bend the cable and draw it out sideways between the two groups. A wide open loop appears and the far half of the stitches slides onto the second needle tip. This is the move the technique is named after. Your stitches now sit in two equal groups facing each other, with a loop of cable hanging out at the side."},{"number":4,"title":"Line Up the Two Needle Tips With the Yarn at the Back","text":"Square everything up before you knit a stitch. Both needle tips point to the right, the cable loop sits out to the left, and half the stitches wait on each needle. Check where the working yarn comes from: it belongs on the back needle, the one furthest from you. Keep it there every round and the knit side of your stockinette lands on the outside of the tube."},{"number":5,"title":"Slide the Back Needle Out and Bring It Round to the Front","text":"Let go of the back needle and draw it straight out, so its stitches drop onto the cable and wait there. Swing that empty tip around to the right, alongside the front needle. Take a moment to run your eye along the cast on edge and confirm nothing has twisted. A twist at this point becomes a moebius strip, and no amount of knitting fixes it afterwards."},{"number":6,"title":"Knit the First Stitch Tight to Close the Round","text":"Pick up the working yarn and knit the first stitch on the front needle. That stitch is what joins the two halves into a circle, so pull it snug rather than leaving it soft. Work across the rest of the front needle as usual. The cable behind will bow out into a strange shape while you do it. Leave it alone, that is how it should look."},{"number":7,"title":"Turn the Work and Pull the Cable Loop Through","text":"With the front needle empty, turn the whole piece around. Move the working yarn to the back again, then pull the cable so the waiting stitches travel along it and up onto the needle tip nearest you. You are back at the setup from step 4: half on the front, half on the back, yarn at the back. Bring the back needle round and knit across. That is one full round."},{"number":8,"title":"Repeat Until the Knitted Tube Grows Off the Needles","text":"Work that sequence again and again. Around round four or five the scrappy flat thing in your hands becomes a small tube and the technique stops feeling abstract. Carry on until the tube measures what your pattern asks for, then bind off, or park the stitches on hold if they are joining something else. Use the cast on tail to close any gap at the very start."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-09-22T15:06:37.511Z","published":"2026-09-22T14:36:59.544Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}