Til Death Do Us Part? - doubts on the road to getting loc'd

As with any binding and long-term commitment, anyone seeking to get locs will have moments of doubt.

My doubts are not about getting them -- (I mean, hey, I'm so super excited about it all, I started an entire blog so that I can keep nattering on about it!) -- but about whether or not I'm getting them done the right way for me for the long run.

I'm keenly aware that all the choices you make for your baby locs set the foundation of what those babies grow up to be.

If your part to loc ratio is all wrong, or you don't anticipate natural puffing and/or shrinkage, you can have locs much larger or smaller than you anticipated. Or if you choose the wrong method of creating the locs (wrong for your hair type, for the level of styling commitment you are able to give to them, for your lifestyle, and for the look you are going for -- corporate & tidy? boho & relaxed? flowing wildly like the jatas of Lord Shiva? or the Lion of Judah mane of a Rastafarian?) etc etc etc....

.... then in the long run, maybe as much as two to four years down the road, you could wind up terribly unhappy with the results of these initial decisions you have made, and you consider breaking up with your locs.

Comb outs and shaves are options of course, and a perfectly reasonable and happy choice for anyone to make, but if you're like me, sitting here waiting for your Big Day, it's near sacrilege to cast any shade over this new relationship or anticipate things going wrong and having to end it all..... I mean, this is for life, right? Til death do us part? riiiight?

LOL - okay, maybe I'm taking things too seriously. It's just hair!

And thankfully, blessedly I live in an age and in a part of the world where I am entirely free to make and unmake whatever choices for my hair and my overall 'presentation of self in everyday life' that I wish to without fear of censure, reprisals or pressure from any form of authority or government figure. I'm free to be me, however I want that to be.

Crochet method of creating locs

All that said, I had indeed been wondering if I'd chosen the right method for my starter locs.

As you can see from a previous post, I have what a lot of people have called 'mixed chick' hair, or Type 3C/4A hair, to use that old chart of hair types. Basically, my natural hair is a mix of different textures. On the very top, is one, central tuft of kinky-coiling Type 4A hair, but the majority of the rest is a tangle of mostly Type 3C curly-coiling hair.

I was very grateful to find the following video of a woman with hair strikingly similar to my own talking about getting her dreads installed by the same crochet method, as I will soon have mine done. (And based on a few bits and pieces of her description of her loc artist, I'm wondering if it's by the same person. I'll try to find that out and report back.)

It was really good for me to see and hear her description of having her locs done from scratch by this method, and to know that it worked out so very well for her. Calms my fears and boosts my confidence in my choice.

For anyone of any hair texture, hers is a great introduction to the crochet method of loc'ing and a good example of the results. Enjoy: