Day 2: Busy-Busy

   I was on the lookout for some boots by the brand Demonia.  I've heard that you can find some in the Orange County Goodwills for fairly inexpensive, but Orange County is about an hour drive away.  Thought that maybe hitting one up near the hotel might get me something good.  I didn't find anything for me, but I did find something for someone else.

  We decided on some Del Taco for lunch.  I got one Del Taco and one grilled chicken taco all guac'd up.  The crunchy taco tasted like a typical drive thru taco, but the grilled chicken was really good.  Their strawberry lemonade is also quite nice, though Bill thought it was disappointing.

Image from: https://keyt.com/lifestyle/2021/02/22/giant-red-stiletto-gives-commuters-something-to-ponder/

  On the way to the brewery we passed the Red Stiletto Heel Art Piece.  I just happened to look up from my crochet as we passed it.  It's an odd sight.

  Bill suggested we go to Firestone Walker Brewery.  I wanted try their brussel sprouts when I heard one lady say "If you think I'm sharing my brussel sprouts!" to her table mate when I walked in to order another round.  As for beers I got/tried: Big Mood, Cinnamon Dolce, Cali-Squeeze Mango Hefe, Cali-Squeeze Blood Orange Hefe, Sour Opal, Cali-Squeeze Blood Orange Hefe, and Velvet Merkin.

  As I've been crocheting the hat I've been thinking about how I would have done the pattern differently.  I probably would have done it as a top down pattern because that makes custom sizing easier.  I would also have added one more stitch to the last repeat so it makes working it feel more organic.  The way the rows are set up makes more sense for a row by row pattern.  Even just using 81 stitches instead of 80 would let you have a more consistent pattern.  After row 10 you end up with 3 stitches around the marker instead of the 4 you should have.

  I don't usually feel bad about changing a pattern, but I especially don't because the one I'm following now was originally designed by Misty Samuelson for Schachenmyr and then adapted by Michael Sellick to be a continuous spiral crochet.

  Our next activity of the day was the social dinner gathering.  There were supposed to be 25 people, but only about 12 showed up.  I said that we all just had to eat like we are multiple people, and it'll all work out.

  Bill and I stopped by a Ralphs to get some water for the room.  Bill wanted snacks but I had definitely eaten enough and took into account the leftovers we took with us.  I was super excited to see this flavor of Calypso.  I've never seen it before!