@sage-wolf I didn't make them any longer than I would for a regular alpha. I suppose you do use up more base string length by shaping but it's not noticeable enough for me to want to measure things. I would guess 1/2 to 1 inch difference
@sage_wolf it's pretty flat. I just carefully adjust the knots to try and cover all the bases strings and not be too tight. I shaped 3 extra knots for the first ear and that was probably too many but I tied those a little looser, made sure they were in a straight line
The tail ended up looking weird as a shaped pattern so if anyone makes this I would either make it as a non-shaped pattern or change the 4 brown knots in row 22-23 to cat tail colored knots