Today I wired up the second thumb cluster and middle finger keywell. I got to make custom DuPont cables with nicer wire since I got a new kit from SparkFun. The insulation is thinner so they are easier to bend and also fit into the crimp tips better. Crimping is still really really fiddly. I think I crimped a bunch of them with the jaws of the crimper wrong (the tighter crimp hitting the insulation instead of the bare wire). I've also struggled with either getting the connectors into the housing or not getting a good click and lock in place so they just pull free out of the housing. Overall I wouldn't use DuPont connectors again. I still don't know of a better alternative, but this is just not good.

One major issue I'm having is my Elite-C microcontrollers suddenly don't want to flash firmware anymore. I'm pretty sure I've flashed both of them a few times but I can't get them into bootloader mode again and so qmk can't see them to flash them. I've been stuck here a bit and am not sure what to do. I'm worried I fried them when soldering them for socketing. I'm also out of spares so I may need to order some more. I think by next session I will run out of keywell building to do and the MCU flashing issue will become a blocking issue for the build.