I am currently knitting sleeves in the round with one circular needle which is what Magic Loop is and I’d like to share pictures of using this technique. The Boye Needle Master comes with a connector part that allows the knitter to combine two shorter cables together to make a very long circular needle. The length is needed so one end of the needle can be manipulated freely . I personally find using double point needles to knit small tubes easiest. Using two circular needles would be my next choice. But since I don’t have size 6 double point needles (I am kicking myself for not buying all sizes the last time I bought a bunch) or 2 sets of size 6 circular needles (I should get another set of Boye Needle Master), I resorted to the Magic Loop.
This method works because half of the stitches are sitting on a thin cable while you work the other half. The flexible cable substitutes the extra needles used in double point needle method and allows the stitches on the needle to be more easily accessible- when the stitches are all sitting on 2 straight needles in the round (well, in parallel actually), they will be bound very tightly and impossible to knit.
It is a very clever way to use the needle except I find that it’s hard to have even tension for all stitches and the progress slower, having to pull the needle and slide the stitches through a long cable for each side of the work. Also it can be confusing in keeping track of rounds worked. One distraction, and you can end up working on the wrong half.
Still it is an alternative to buying extra needles and what I have knit so far looks fine. I might just get the hang of it and keep using this method for more projects!
Cat Knits a Lot 