Finished 2/1/2026! This keychain is a gift for my best friend! This has to be a testament to how much I love him, it was such an ordeal. The thing about making only the mushroom as a shaped alpha is that some of the rows are two knots wider than the previous row on one side, so it's not as simple as separating out one base string at a time. I went looking for tutorials and didn't find anything, but something about @tarzmnya's picture on #162943 made things click for me. Many thanks!
I used the flat alpha technique to end the left side of the mushroom cap instead of bundling up all those base strings until the end. I ran into some problems, but they were new and different problems than the last time I did this technique, so that was fun. It definitely felt like a milestone once I didn't have to worry about those base strings anymore. Because the shape changes so drastically, I used painter's tape to number the ends of my base strings so I could keep better track of them. And again, my hubris and scarcity mindset with my strings caused me so much unnecessary anguish. Who knows if I've learned my lesson this time. I sure hope so.
For my first shaped alpha, I think it turned out pretty good and it has to be one of my favorite things I've made to date. I definitely learned a lot and I'm really proud of myself!
autyfalls
