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The start of my dread journey. Tips/tricks/advice welcomed
First off I should explain a bit about why I chose to have my dreads formed. I have struggled with almost an obsessive/compulsive nature about my appearance for years, to the point where it impacts how I go about my day. I had a routine in the morning that would take exactly an hour and forty five minutes on a good day. Now, this was not simply out of vanity. I would literally feel that something was off if I did something out of order, or if something looked different than how I usually put myself together. I usually accept change pretty well, however when it came to my appearance (more so how I felt I should look, rather than how I felt others would see me) I was very hard pressed to do things differently without feeling extraordinarily off.
That being said, I chose dreads to try and break me from these habits. Not only that, but also to try and help save my hair (which I am also convinced is in the process of thinning) from all of the harsh chemicals caused by over the counter boxed dyes, and cheap shampoo. Oh, and I forgot to mention part of my routine involved washing my hair every single day in order to maintain the same shape..every..single..day. I slowly weaned myself down to just conditioning every day and washing every three days, however this is still not really the best situation for thinning hair.
I chose to have them formed at loctician locally that specializes in natural hair and "locs" specifically. It came recommended by a friend of a friend, whom I had met, and had seen what the end results looked like. For me, I had to have them formed at a salon. If I hadn't made a drastic change all at once I probably would have taken them out long before I was able to see them even in adolescence. I had done plenty of research on all of the methods, dos/donts, and anything I could find to see what would work for me in the long term. I really wish I could have had the fortitude to go through with neglect, but that just wasn't an option.
So now here we are, and I just had my dreads formed not but 24 hours ago with the backcomb method with a light amount of crochet (and absolutely no wax or products). It is definitely tough to see myself entirely different from my day to day (especially with all the new dread fuzz, and the fact that of course they're far from perfect). However, I am still looking to the future and the hopes that one day they will look as glorious as I imagine.
Now for the questions. I know with the crochet method there is a lot of maintenance involved in upkeep. Is that to say that one cannot start off with one method, and then continue with multiple methods? I would like to at some point work with different methods to achieve different styles to add a little more character to my dreads. I would appreciate any tips and information, as I'm sure it will be needed in the months to come before they become more mature.
Any who, that's that, and I am now a part of something bigger than myself.
I appreciate all of the support and advice. As of now, they are still extremely new and I have yet to even buy any tools to maintain (which I didn't intend on either). The only maintenance I expected to do was palm rolling at best, and I did receive some info that pure aloe vera plant gel can be used as a natural alternative to keep loose hair under control..and that is probably the extent to what I would do as far as trying to "control" my dreads.
It is in fact extremely liberating. While I still have the compulsion in the back of my mind, the driving force (and the reason I chose to have them done in a quick fashion), is that I cannot go back now. As I said, I truly wish I could have just awoke one day and said "today I stop everything", but this was not the case. Granted I had some info on the crochet, and knew what it would do, I had very little resources locally to help me any other way. I personally have only met three people with healthy locks that I would have taken advice from, however when I met them was long before I considered it for myself...and had absolutely no way of contacting them for direct help. I felt very much between a rock and a hard place.
Again, I don't intend to crochet at home. Ultimately, that was why I asked towards the end of the post if it is acceptable to dread using multiple methods. If a dread started with crochet is left to natural dreading, or even assisted with palm rolling/saline solution, would it eventually work itself into a cohesive dread?
Thank you again for the concerns, and help. While I don't have any people close to me to go to with these questions, I am very grateful that everyone here is a close knit community.
First off, welcome to your liberation. Leaving dreads to be natural, meaning maintenance free, will produce the most beautiful dreadlocks. You will have one hour and 45 minutes, or 105 minutes a day to take up a new hobby, ever wanted to learn how to play guitar, or knit yourself a tam, what ever you wantrd to do, you will have time for it. That's a long time each day to get given to you, go natural and that is the gift to you, besides wicked dreads.
Right now, you like the look of the crochet dreads, but like mentioned, every time it is done, it produces more broken hairs, so after days after each visit, those broken hairs will poke out, look like some frizz, and I am sure you don't want that. You want 105 minutes of free time where you can wake up, shake your head and you are done. I won't kid you, if you let them go natural, they will go through changes, it will take a year when it begins, but if you can retain yourself to change them in that one year, then you will never, ever have to worry about them again. EVER.
No blowdryers, you don't want to dry them out. Wash only 2-3 times a week. Washing everyday was getting rid of your natural scalp oils which was causing you damage. Cheap shampoo....purchase a fantastic dread shampoo. If you have soft water, there are many options open to you, if you have hard water, use the Dreadlockshampoo.com products.
What got me through tough days was having the vision of what I wanted them to look like in 3 years. If I did anything to the growing process, that vision would not work out. This is what grows your inner strength, teaches you that you don't always have to be in control and good things still happen.
Here is a pic of a member on this site, if this is what you want, then be patient, know that is CAN be grown with no assistance by others or tools.
This is Princenoobsauce at 13 years of dreading, gorgeous are they not! You can do this. You will do this. You don't need different methods in the future to get different styles, you only need to be creative. Here is another pic of his, creativity can be achieved. 
More character happens with naturally grown dreads, no one will have the exact same ones as yours. That's what dreading is all about.....peace
You should stay away from crocheting. Over time it breaks the hairs and thins the dreads because connecting hairs break (without you noticing because they're inside a dread) and eventually they'll break off. It's a terrible method for anyone, but I think with your obsessive issue, it'll be even worse for you. I mean, if you're looking at your hair everyday and struggling with the drastic change, you might be more compelled to crochet more to keep them neat and 'perfect' and the more you crochet, the more damage you'll do. I would seriously advise you to leave it alone and do nothing but wash and separate any dreads that try to join. Not only is it the healthiest, but it might be better for your peace of mind too. The best advice I was given was to stop looking in the mirror so much, and it helped break my impatience. Instead of looking at every single 'flaw,' you go a long time without truly looking at your hair, so by the time you next look at them, you've made loads of progress. Might help break the obsessive issue you seem to have
you should throw the hook away and do nothing to them at all
you know going natural would have cured you