Freshening up Yarn Twists - The Undoing and Redoing Part 1

It's that time again. My yarn twists are starting to look a tad worse for wear, so I've decided to freshen them up. A few posts ago I let you in on how I redo yarn braids. I'm using the same method for my yarn twists.

So I've redone half my head and will do the other half next weekend. So far this is what I've learnt.

• Undoing yarn twists is a breeze!! So perfect for those bereft of time to spend on hair, or the lazy : ). When doing yarn twists, I braid at the root then start twisting. So when I'm undoing them, the yarn pretty much unravels until the small braided section. It takes about 15 seconds to undo that section, and I'm done! In terms of time consumption, yarn twists are winning.

• Seeing as the hair and yarn are twisted, this could potentially turn into knots and breakage central. Especially if you're natural. When you get to the roots, just be cautious and focus more on working the hair out of the yarn, rather than whipping the yarn out. Untwisting each strand of yarn or each piece of hair individually may work when you see a tangle forming.
  

I hope those two points help someone. I'd really love to get more suggestions if anyone has some, I'm still learning : )

Yarn Braids or Yarn Twists and Itching

I really don't know what it is. But lately, when I have yarn anything in my hair, I get this insatiable itching. It's really getting on my nerves now.

Yes people, I do wash my hair. Even though, my scalp will begin to itch a few hours after the wash. I use shampoo and I've changed shampoos. I've tried apple cider vinegar rinses. Nothing doing.

The only thing that's worked so far is using a clarifying shampoo. The itching is quelled for approximately a week. I really don't want to wash my hair with clarifying shampoo weekly. No way, Jose.

What gives UHCers?? Anyone experiencing the same thing with yarn? Any suggestions?

Yarn Twists - Styling and Accessorizing Yarn Twists

In my last post I bemoaned my yarn twists "just not looking great." Well, a reader - KayTee- stopped by and encouraged me to try styling and accessorizing the yarn twists. Brilliant idea! Thanks KayTee!

Welp, here's what happened:

I bunned, I'm not ready to wear these babies down yet. I know what you're thinking. "Errmm, you were bunning in the last yarn twists post, Urban." But look guys, I put in a cute flower!! *proud face*


But wait, there's more!! I had a side-swoop, bang-type thing going on at the front:


I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'm a really 'low maintainance' type of girl. I don't wear makeup and usually just wear hairstyles that are convenient. I'm usually one to just tie back yarn braids. So I'm really stoked to be trying out different styles.

This style looked nice. It's simple, but still manages to add a little spice to my, generally smart but simplistic, everyday coporate look.

I've also just discovered an entire draw of styling bits and bobs, from years ago, that I had forgotten about. Let the yarn twist styling games begin!

Yarn Twists - I did Yarn twists and I don't think

I don't think ... I like them!!

So I folded and took out my yarn braids. My scalp hadn't been free of braids for 4 months and just really needed to breathe.

Now, I know ... and have posted about the arduous task that is removing yarn braids. But it took about 10 hours people!!! Ridiculous! I think it was partly because I'm so gentle and really take my time. So needless to say, by the time I was done ... that last thing I wanted to do was put in braids again. No ma'am. But I had to. I didn't want my hair out. It had to go back into a longterm protective style ASAP.

That is when I though of putting in twists instead. They don't take as long to put in and would be easy as pie to take out. I took it a step further and decided to do fat twists that would ... well, take even less time to put in and be even easier than pie to take out! How clever am I???? *hi^5*

NOT. They just don't look great : ( But not to worry, they look fine bunned. So that's how I'll wear them. It works out I suppose. I work in an environment where my hair needs to be out of the way anyway.

What is the problem? Well, I think

1) They're too thick and
2) I had never, ever done twists in my life and thought myself a pro after watching a few YouTube tutorials. I think I may not have twisted tight enough or I don't have that rolling-of-the-threads-as-you-twist thing down pat yet.



Either way, they took me about 7 hours to put in. Best believe, I'm keeping them in.

What do you think?

Freshening up Yarn Braids

I've had yarn braids in since March. I left them in as long as I could because I was so overwhelmed at the prospect of having to take out an entire head of them AND redoing them. Life has been getting in the way, so I just haven't felt like I had that amount to time on my hands.

But not to worry, I came up with a solution. You want in? Ok, I'll tell you. The secret is to redo the braids bit by bit! While watching a movie, YT vids, reading your favourite blogs ; ).

I've found I start redoing maybe after 1.5 months. Every few days, I take out a handful (on weekends I can usually do a lot more) and redo those. At the 3 month mark or there abouts, I undid the top half or so (during a weekend) and redid all that. In the next 1 or 2 weeks I'll do the back half.


The front half undone.

It's not as overwhelming for me because I only spent a few hours on the process and still had a lot of my weekend to do other stuff.

Some people may be reading this and thinking, "I couldn't be bothered, Urban, I'd rather do it all in one go and get it over and done with it." More power to you. But for some reason, I don't have it in me to sit for so many hours doing my hair at the moment.

My edges on the other hand, are still redone every 3 weeks or so, by the way.