Spiral DC hotpad -- part 2

-- with a "faux slip stitch" --
(The French word "faux" is pronounced like the English word "foe". And, it seems to me, in some cases such as the one here, the imitation is better than the original.)

In the last post, we worked the spiral dc hotpad to the end of the sixth round.

The yarn I was using was left over from a knit dishcloth. So, I decided to crochet this one until running out of yarn.

I did a couple repeats of the pattern for Round 7:

Round 7: * dc twice into same st, dc 5 * 12 times (84 sts)

Then to make the hotpad more circular and less "spiral-ry", I did essentially what I did at the beginning of the spiral (though in the opposite order) -- one half double crochet, two single crochet, and finally a slip stitch.

The first picture shows these stitches plus the beginning of what I'm calling a faux slip stitch -- for lack of a better term. The first time I saw the stitch was at the end of Cat Bordhi's video on Jeny's bind off (knitting).

To work the "faux slip stitch", first cut the yarn. Then draw the yarn through the top of the next stitch (as in the first picture).

After that, draw the loose end through the back loop of the previous stitch (second picture).

Finally, weave in the loose end.