YIPPEE!

Here's a happy Naomi with her happy Sisterlocks-tician . . .

Monday, February 16
We're done!!! We had two mini-sessions today and finished with 404 locs. I'll do a re-count next time we shampoo and separate, just to make sure our notes were correct. We spent a little more than 35 hours with our loctician, and with stretch breaks and other interruptions, the Sisterlocks probably took around 28-30 hours. Some small fussing aside, Naomi did great with the long periods of sitting. We watched allot of movies!!!

Since it took so long to finish some of the first sections are almost ready for retightening. In fact, our loctician did a few of the front ones today, and we will go for our first re-tightening session in a couple of weeks.

Naomi's locs are still a bit fuzzy at the tip due to her hair texture, and even though the locs are done as close to the tip as possible, a bit at the tip is left a little looser to encourage the locking process. The whole tendril will "lock up" from the tip to the scalp and get more "mature" as time goes on.

I was upset to find that Naomi's hair, especially a section on the left side, was cut very unevenly. Several months ago I took Naomi to an Ethiopian salon for a trim, thinking they would be familiar with her hair type and able to do a good job. I wasn't happy with it at the time, and now that I see that it has such a huge snafu, I am even more unhappy. But what can you do? I am only sad that once the locs are mature and we are able to trim it and shape it up, that we will have to lose allot of length to make it even.

Lovin' our locs . . .

The sprint to the finish

Sunday, February 15

There is light at the end of the tunnel. We only have a small section on the right side of the back to finish . . . maybe 3-4 more hours. Whew! We are all anxious to be finished. Today seemed to move quickly ~ we got 63 locs done and are now up to 343. It is funny . . . the unfinished sections look like such small amounts when it is braided up, but unbraided and combed out it takes on a life of its own and becomes a huge cloud of soft fuzzy curls that take so much longer to loc than one initially anticipates.

Sunday, February 8

We're in a rhythm now. The back of Naomi's head is not so sensitive as the top was and the back loc size is a larger, so we can move a l-i-t-t-l-e bit faster. There is only one long section on each side of the back to complete.

I put the two back side sections into cornrows again to transition to next week. The top layers camouflage the braids underneath so she can even wear her hair all hanging down now. She is very tired of sitting but loves the versatility of her locs.

It's Getting There

Sunday, February 1

Naomi is restless and fussy today. She's been unusually tired and mopey all day and I think may have a small bug of some sort. We need to keep slowing down because the pulling is bothering her. (Yes, perhaps I shouldn't spoil her and cater to her tenderheadedness, but I do want this to be a good experience for her). AND we encountered a couple test locs put in by one of the other consultants we interviewed. They are not lined up with what we are doing and are a different pattern, so it took some time to take those out before we could move on. We finished the day with 230+ total locs.



We have the rest of the back middle section to complete, and then the two sides of the back. So probably a good three more sessions. She has so much hair! Once finished, the earlier sections will be about due for a tightening, so we'll probably have to give it all a once over to get everything tight and consistent.

This time we put the unlocked hair in the back into large cornrows for our transition to the next session.

Sunday, January 25

Another Sunday afternoon locking hair. Sunday is the only chunk of free time that works for both us and our loctician. We've settled into a routine . . . pop in a DVD, set out some snacks, have water handy to stay hydrated, and a timer that Naomi gets to choose when to set for her next stretch break. She is so good and often adds more time once it rings. I think the control helps her to not be so restless. I encourage lots of stretching when we do take a break, and there is mini-tramp to bounce off some energy. We're up to almost 200 locs!


It's a bit of a challenge styling through the transitions, but so far we have been doing pretty good. Here we are ready for school with the front locs pulled back, unfinished upper back sides braided, and unfinished lower back sides and middle back pulled into a low puff.