Hello!
I'm on my third try, too and going natural for a little over 2 years now. My first set was almost 20 years ago with backcombing and then
maybe 7 years ago with the twist and rip method. Going all natural works pretty good for me, because i get used to it step by step, as well as others like friends, work, family etc. Personally i would never try any other starter method again, natural is the key for me.
Best wishes,
Frank
greetings from northern Germany! You have found the best site on the planet, congrats! Soaring Eagle and other members are very helpful and gentle so feel free to ask everything. Have a nice weekend!
well now your in the right place to spread your knowledge from your experience
thats what i takes.. everyone telling their story..
with wax.. it took hundreds of victims of wax challenging the lead wax pushers to a debate making them face the harm that was done (was quite the spectacle)
with crochet dunno who would be te 1 person to debate, maybe that guy skillteacher since like close to a million watched his vids despite his wifes dread simply falling off in his hand which he dared to say it wasn't crocheted enough
as long as we keep spreading good info here and every 1 of you sharing your stories the word will get out just like it did with wax.. it took time but this community made a big diference and will continue to
In the city i live in, i see a lot of people with dreads every day, but most of them i guess are crocheted, some are backcombed or twisted and ripped, almost none are completely natural. In two years i have only met one women with natural dreads. The younger people are, the more they tend to crochet there hair, to get the "dread" look as soon as possible, no matter what it means to the health of their hair and scalp. That is a bit sad.
So i guess there is a lot of work to do for all of us!
Yes It is cold over here too, but my dreads are isolating pretty good so no need for a hat for me. I have bought a tam for weathers like this, but have'nt worn it a lot at all.
But in your case with the shaved sides i can imagine that it is getting cold imidiately!
Thank you! What means 8 months plus or minus compared to having locks for lifetime 
But you are right, because you have done a little harm to your hair for nothing except for having a better knowlege right now! I guess making mistakes is also part of the process like being patient.
I'm going 14 month natural at the moment, the avatar pic is around month 9. The whole year before i was just growing out my hair because it was too short to dread.
This is my latest picture a month ago...
small sections in the beginning are quite normal, they will get thicker after time. Mine got way way thicker after the first year and some got quite huge because of my thick and curly hair. But every hair will dread, no matter if thick or thin and that is cool!
I don't know what "sponge locs" are, but i would'nt wear anything on my head over night. Hair has to be able to move that it can knot and then finally dread. How long are you in and did you use a starting method? Unraveling is quite normal and part of the process , at least in the beginning.
they never stop changing...just slow down a bit
that is very cool! I can now understand why people miss the early stages of dreading, where a lot of changes happen in a short amount of time.
Around two years of going natural i have noticed some changes. Before it seemed to be the messy, zigzag and flat ends stage of the journey. Then certainly two of my thicker dreads on the back of my head with pretty huge rounded flat ends have changed. The ends have folded over right in the middle during a wash and stayed like that after drying. So each of the two ends have become thicker and more round like the rest of those locks. After two or three weeks (3 washes) the folded ends dreaded together, so there is no way to unfold again.
This was very cool to see, that hair is folding over while being wet without any force and holding together till it was dreaded. This journey has to offer a lot of crazy things, maybe it is the reward for being patient?! I'm very excited what will happen in the future, it's almost like science!
Have a nice week!
