Braidlocs Update

If Kenson's hair represents the problem of being too long, then Conleigh's hair tends toward the opposite end of the spectrum.  To start with, 2 days after Kenson experimented with the scissors on his hair, Conleigh did the same with hers.  She was more successful than he was and managed to cut off probably 4 or 5 braids before someone noticed.   Of course, she managed to do so in a spot that was already a trouble spot:  right above her ears.  On her, the area above both ears is problematic, full of thin, uneven hair.  (And now some braided stubble.)  Some of that is due to the fact that her hair just hasn't matured yet and she is still dealing with baby hair issues.  Some of that is due to that hair being pulled back often while in orphanage care.  And some of that is due to a mama who was too aggressive when taking out braids and one time managed to break off a large section of the fragile hair that was there.  My vision of ponytails, pigtails, and braided braids just keeps stalling out.  I was really hoping to see amazing growth while her hair was in braidlocs.  And it is growing.  It's just slow going.  The other interesting thing is that since so many of her braids are very thin and don't have much bulk, the curls within the braids have a tendancy to do their magic on the braids themselves resulting in shorter braids that corkscrew in places. 

Some things I think I've learned so far about braidlocs:

-I mentioned the thin, damaged areas.  When I first put the braids in, I was very concerned about these areas.  I tried my best to just braid around them, leaving the damaged hair out of the braids.  I did start braiding these sections about a month ago as I thought they were maybe long enough and strong enough to handle the braids.
-I braided microbraids and some of the braids are very thin due to Conleigh's hair not having a uniform texture or thickness.  I was very worried that some braids would be too thin and break. So far, we have not had any break.  But some of the thin braids have been a bit of a problem when I've tightened them with a latchhook.  It's almost as if the braids are creating knots as you latchook and then the knots make it impossible for you to continue latchooking.
-When I started Conleigh's locs, her hair was very uneven.  I had evened it out to some degree a few months prior but there was still a lot of difference in lengths.  I think if I had to do it again I would wait a bit longer and then try to even it out yet again.  Or maybe just do a complete chop session and get her hair all evened out at like 2 inches long, rather than trying to hang onto the precious length I was trying to save.  It isn't that big of a deal but now the shorter hairs have a tendancy to pop out from the braids and create frizzines.  Also, when I ended each braid, some of the braids could be braided all the way to the end.  On other braids, I ended up with differing lengths of hair so I had to twist the ends instead of braiding.  Now, those ends are frizzing.  (Frizziness is a part of the process but in this case, I think the uneven hair isn't helping.)