Dreadlock loom

I don't understand how looms work, tried to learn during some arts and craft class but I guess that doesn't fall under stuff my brain ever wants to understand. Either way, I find what you can doo with looms very interesting and usually beautiful. Here is one that you can use to make dreadlocks, I ain't sure if you can use it on your head though. (I doubt its practicallity but maybe you can use it to make a cute belt....)

Courtesy of Crotcheted wedding dresses

Short locks

Hallo People,

Here is a picture from one of the readers who has recently started locking. It's a beautiful picture to show all the My Dreadlocks readers it is possible to start locking even with very short hair. Another thing is how neatly the locks were done, very organized, well spaced and very professional. What matters most when starting your locks is not the length of your hair but the person who does them.

NYC

Hallo everyone,

Repairing locks with a crotchet

Incase your have very long hair and some of the hair is lose from the main lock, you can use a crotchet to tighten the lock. Crotcheting has more or less the same function as latching (will post an article about that also) but it's easier to crotchet  that latch on your own (This may vary, others find latching easier, I unfortunately can't do either of them but my loctician always uses latching when  I do my annual loctician visit.)

Pic courtesy of Dreadlock HQ (In german)

CROTCHETING

All of a sudden, I'm crazy about the whole concept of crotcheting in relation to locking. I love crotcheting funny little stuff like small cell phone bags but now, the bags aside, it's crotcheting locks now. Considering there is a lot about crotcheting in relation to locks I'll do a series like I did back then with the head wraps. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
For those who are still looking for a method of starting their locks, crotcheting is also a possibility.

1. Now take one of your sections of hair.  If you have straight hair, this is the point when you start twisting gently but back-combing like mad.  Once you have a nice long puff, continue to the next step.  If you already have naturally coiled (3c, "biracial", Moroccan, tight-Polish spiral-wave) or Afro-kinky hair (4a, 4b), don't worry about the back-combing.  Just mash it together, or twist it mildly until it coils a little loosely.

2. Push the crochetting needle through Twist the hair at least a quarter turn more, and then push the needle through a little more hair at about a 45 degrees angle from the last loop.a small subsection of the loc.  This should only be maybe 10-20 hairs thick.

3.A little further down the loc, twist it until at least the side of the loc that was away from you, is now facing towards you.

4.  Then push the needle through some hair that is at about a 45 degree angle from where your initial loop is.

5. Pull this second loop through the first one.

6.  Twist the hair at least a quarter turn more, and then push the needle through a little more hair at about a 45 degrees angle from the last loop.

7.  Then pull this loop through the last one.
Continue this cycle of twisting and looping until you run out of hair.  Then pull the last loop all the way through until it's loose.

Courtesy of Cornrows

Recycling locks.

Ok before you all think I'm completely gaga with all my "wierd" ideas hear me out. After I wrote about 24hr locks, American made a comment about cutting his locks then reusing them. Funny enough I hadn't thought of it like that when I wrote about the 24hr locks. Guess I looked at it from the outside and only saw buying a stranger's locks and locking with your own especially for the unlocked people.
I had shared about my twist locks thinning and eventually cutting during the early stages of my locking. This was basically caused by inexperience hence tightening my lock a bit too much while I twisted. I got this wierd idea for those who may be going through the same problem I did. The whole process will require a lot of imagination, I only got the idea after I had already separated my locks, but I'll try and add pics of the sewing the tip sometime.

When your lock thins
1. Attach it to a neighbouring lock, after a while the 2 will lock and you will end up with 2 locks with one base.

2. For tidiness sake, just cut off the tip of the parasitic lock. Be very carefull to differentiate between the parasitic lock from the host lock. Don't throw away the tip of the lock you cut, store it well.
The host and parasite take about 2 to 3 washes before they join together and lock but this depends on the magnitude of damage on the parasite lock and also kind of hair It may eventually range from 2 to 3 washes or even 2 to 3 months.

3. Search for the parasitic lock and separate it from the host lock (for those with a lot of hair, but no worries if you do your own locks then your hands will intuitively find them), at this time the tip of the parasitic lock has locked to some level meaning when you wash, the hair won't magically disappear (kinky hair shrinks and scatters on the scalp).

4. The parasitic lock now appears as a small new lock, twist it and give it time to completely lock on its own.

5. When the lock has eventually locked then attach the lock you had cut. You may use thin black thread either by sewing the old lock tip or crotchetting it to the new lock. Attaching the tip only helps to increase the length of the new lock so that it doesn't look too wierd in the midst of the rest.

Combing out locks

Is this really possible? Some say yeah some say no, I guess it's just another case of glass being half full or half empty. I have watched many videos on youtube and read about it on many blogs and magazines so I thought I should also try it and see what happens. Instead of throwing away my last lock that fell off, I decided to comb it out and see what happens.
So question is, is it possible to comb out locks? My answer is yes you can, but before you start trying to comb your locks, I don't think it's worth it. Wait a minute, I don't mean it being worth it in the sense you shouldn't let go of your locks or anything like that. What I mean is, your locks are an entanglement of dirt, hair that cut but didn't fall off and many other tiny little things. If you can look at your lock closely, you will realise it's not like a braid that you can undo and comb out soo simply. Do you remember when you would braid your hair and when you would undo the braids, where the artificial hair had been attached to your hair, there was like an accumulation of oil, drandruff and small bits of hair. Then when you finally finished undoing your hair, it would look soo full then after you comb it out, you end up with a whole ball of hair and the dandruff out of your hair but now on the comb.
When you comb out your locks, it's more or less like that or for me it was. You won't end up bald or anything, but you won't end up with hair as long and beautiful as your locks. Combing out your locks will definitely give you a headstart if you want to grow back your unlocked hair, but it won't maintain the length. Maybe this also depends of the method you use for locking because some of the videos I watched on youtube, it's like combing out a normal braid and the hair remains the same.
I don't know though, has anyone tried combing them out or knows someone who did? Did it work out? How did your/their hair look like after the combing?
All in all, if you are tired of the locks, a change is as good as a rest and instead of starting from bald, you might as well buy a tough comb, get yourself a movie or two and some time to kill then comb out those locks till you got your hair back.
What I would ask for from you would be, a before and after pic and maybe a short summary of the whole experience.

My babies turn 2

I have learnt alot from my locks as they turn 2 today. Here is a list of stuff I learnt.

1. Know the reason why you have locks: people have very many different reasons for having or not having locks. Some for religious reasons, others for beauty, others cause it's the cheapest hairstyle or easiest to maintain while for others it's a sign of the african liberation etc.

2. Realise not everyone has or doesn't have locks for the same reason you do. Just because you think locking is a sign of african liberation doesn't mean everyone who has locks agrees with you. Sometimes there are more "unlocked" people who agree with you than the "locked".

3. Do you want people to respect your reason for locking? Then respect other people's reason for having or not having locks. It saddens me everytime I vist a blog on locks only to find "locked" people cursing and writing trash about all those that are not "locked". For whatever reason you decided to lock, that's great but don't force it down any other person's throat.

4. Your locks are unique and special: Don't try and compare your locks with all the others out there, there are many factors that play a vital role in your hair's texture, colour, weight and even length eg your genes, hormones, climate, hair products you use, age etc. Understand and treat them special they are as unique and special as you are.

5. Too much of anything is poisonous: yes and this applies to all the good remedies you get online too. For anything to work well, it should be used in moderation. Just use enough when you need it but not too much.

6. Excersice patience: It's funny how my locks have taught me how to be patient with other people. I was formerly the most impatient person I knew until I got my locks and I had to wait for 22months before I could hold them in a ponytail and also sit for a little over an hour twisting them myself every fortnight. (All of you, you have locticians, count your blessings)

7. A change is as good as a rest: just because you got "locked" doesn't mean you have to look the same all year round. Change the way you hold your hair once in a while regardless of the length of your locks. If you can braid your locks, even with bought hair ( I aint against enhancing your lock). I have braided my hair twice since I started locking but let me warn you, if you braid your hair after a long time, you scalp will itch like crazy. Maybe for me it was different also cause, I let no one else do my hair so getting "foreign" hands on my head caused the itch.

8. Enjoy every stage of your locking: I guess I was too caught up waiting for my locks to be long enough to hold up and style that I missed their growth. I see pictures of people with short locks well styled and I wonder why didn't I try that when my locks were short?? If any of you is starting their locking or even if you are regrowing your afro, enjoy every single minute of it.

9. Don't use every single product you read about in the blogs, some people are just making money out of you. People do get paid for advertising you know.

10. Keep it simple: stay away from all those compound named chemicals Ammonium lauryl sulphate, dodecahydroxyclohexane, (yes that's one word). Just because it sounds fancy and intelligent doesn't mean it'll help your hair, trust me, I'm a scientist. I use more baby products that adult products. Baby products are usually more expensive, have less intoxicants and contain more pure substances that are less harsh on your skin adult products on the other hand, are usually cheaper than baby products ( to be cheaper it means there is more substitution of pure substances with chemicals) and some can be very harsh on your skin.

11. Locks are just hair don't fuss too much about them: wierd that I'd be the one writing this considering, I call my locks my babies, I take pictures of anything that happens to them and even started a blog for them. Anyway, locks are like any other hairstyle, don't feel guilty for getting tired of having them, it's normal and you are only human. If one day you wake up and want to cut them, feel free to do so. You'll still be welcome at My Dreadlocks. What you feel inside is what matters most, your appearance only enhances but doesn't define the feeling inside.

Threading

I met a guy who is trying to lock his hair but wasn’t sure which style to use to lock. When he visited the loctician, threading was suggested to him.
Threading of locks is done by first subdividing the hair into rectangles (sometimes it's an undescribable shape) and then tying the thread loosely along its whole length to form a lock. Space the thread along the lock length NOT like the raffia locks though (it is quite complex trying to explain this style so I made pictures of the locks, hope they give a better understanding of the technique). It is preferable to use black thread if your hair is black. Later as the hair grows out, you twist the root with hair gel or beeswax.
This method is just a starting method to help make the locks lock faster and equally through the whole length of a lock. This method is usually used on long hair. DO NOT tie the thread too tight cause then the lock will develop with bumps on it. Tie it lightly but firmly enough to hold the lock in place.

More of OUR Beautiful Pictures

This week we feature, Francene's Pictures.

Being glamorous on her birthday. Hope you had a wonderful Birthday Francene. May you have many more birthdays to come and continue enjoying your locking journey. Keep us updated.

If any of the other readers would like to be featured on My Dreadlocks please email me a couple of your pics you would like to share with us at dreadlockmamasita@gmail.com