For those of you who are worried that your journey is going slow, don't fret. Who knows how long your journey will take. My picture here is my 1 year 7 day progress using the twist & rip method after letting my hair separate naturally. Some people can have mature dreads in 1 year, some take 2 years. We are all different in our own special ways. Peace 
You want to have 13 dreads? Fat dreads look awesome, too bad they take so long to dry. If that is what you want, then you can wrap a few in the same area together with hemp or embroidery thread. Eventually the loose hairs will grab onto the other dreads. Not sure how long it would take for them to do that though. You can also use a large bead. I would put one in the middle of lock and at the end of lock to keep them together until they take. You will have to allow yourself way more drying time for fatties and be prepared for tension on the scalp at times.
peace
You have healthy looking dreads. Thicker dreads take sooo long to dry.
Lucky you did find us. First off, please read the dreaducation pages, most of your answers are all there. It is recommended to wash 2-3 times a weeks as hair needs to be kept clean.
You did the crochet method, so you have hundreds of broken hairs in the dreads, that is the roughness that you feel.
You did not comb for 2 years, but what were you washing with? Almost all shampoos bought from stores do not allow hair to dread, also if you used conditioners it would have caused knots to slip out during every wash. What you wash with plays a huge roll in the dreading process.
There are two ways to wash your hair. Dreadlock Shampoo on this site is made specifically for dreads, they sell shampoos and soaps for them. The other way is to wash using baking soda and an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse.
How this works is you mix 1/2 cup (.24 liters) of baking soda into to 5 cups (1.18 liter) of water and pour on head. Leave it on for 10-20 minutes without scrubbing, it will exfoliate the scalp all on its own. Rinse well and then add 1-2 capfuls of Apple Cider Vinegar into 5 cups (1.18 liter) of water, pour on hair and leave on for no more than a minute. The ACV conditions the hair and balances the hairs PH from using the baking soda. It will feel softer to the touch.
You will be on a road to recovery by crocheting, but be patient, never use it again, and you will get the healthy locks you always wanted.
you will get there, Peace
Hi Cecobask, no worries on your journey, ones hair & process can be so different from someone elses. I am past a year now, and my dreads are not mature, you can check out my 11mth picture process on my page. Usually free form (neglect) dreading is a faster journey. Doing T&R, you are making the blueprint to your dreads, where you want them to be, but those sections need to loosen in order to dread, whereas free form is already loose hairs, so with T&R you take a step back when they loosen. So you see, yours have come almost completely undone, now they are starting their journey. (I also T&R'd)
Peace
Hi Heaven, please have no worries on your process. Everyone dreads so differently in regards to time. Please look at my page to see photos of my process @11months 4days. Mine do not looks like dreads yet. The bottom tips are all crazy, many have 5 fingery wisps coming off the ends, so they are bushy, crazy, and still all loopy. I do have a few that are tight and look like dreads should, they are all hiding underneath, but the rest are still a mess. I do wish they were more mature by now, but hey, that is my journey and one day I will be rewarded with the dreads I envision. I am now over my year mark & there is really no changes, or maybe there is very little, from my 11 month photos. Dreads do take about 2 years to mature.
So yes, please don't worry, nothing is wrong, your journey, as with mine, is just taking longer. Hang in there and this time next year we will both be blessed with the dreads we wanted.
Just for the record, yours look like dreads, they do not have all the bush that I still have, your journey is beautiful!
Peace sister
too bad I didn't get the puppies at the beginning of my journey instead of a year into it, would have been cool for the three of us to grow together!!
Hi all, ecstatic 
to say that I adopted two little 8 weeks old girls yesterday. Can't stop hugging them. Let me introduce you to Stark & Pepper
Yep, what SE said and on a side note, have you ever smelt wet wool? After quite a few washing I would tend to think that an odor would start. I could be wrong but I once had a wool coat that this happened to.
Peace
You can use the soaps from Dreadlock Shampoo, as they are made specifically with hard water in mind.
Peace
HariShabad said:
If it's saponified anything that is soap that will leave crud on your hair and scalp. I have super hard water also and I cannot use soap of any kind.
