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WIP Wednesday

Crocheting those amigurumi pumpkins last week really whetted my appetite for crochet! I decided to take one of the skeins of Arroyo I just ordered from Doodlebug Yarn to make some sort of cowl. I came across this simple, free pattern on Ravelry called the Mushin Cowl by Shireen Nadir. The term "mushin" comes from Martial Arts training and means "without mind." Once I read that in the explanation, I knew this would be the perfect pattern for me to make!

Since I am still really new to crochet, there are sometimes terms I come across that I haven't seen before; in this pattern, it was the slip stitch at the end of each round. First, I wondered - should I have been doing that all along when crocheting amigurumi? Is it just one of those givens that isn't necessarily written into a pattern? I've signed up for Stacey Trock's Woodland Creatures workshop on Craftsy, so perhaps that will shed some light on that subject once I sit down to do the course.

Rather than make an educated guess, however,  I decided to do a quick search on YouTube. Jackpot! I found this helpful video that got me back on track:


Wow, it really is as easy as it sounded! Once I mastered the slip stitch, I crocheted away happily the rest of the weekend and am nearing completion of my first-ever crochet cowl!


As far as my other WIPs go, I am making slow but steady progress on the Malabrigo Rios baby blanket and I've started a top-secret holiday gift that I don't dare mention because the recipient reads my blog. I've also been attempting to make myself some much-needed slippers for this winter (more on that on Friday), so that's been distracting me from my gift-knitting endeavors. Hopefully this weekend I'll get back on track!
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