Shendeni…I’m so glad that you tried the eyeliner pencil on your test head first! Right now I’m using regular white chalk for mapping. One thing is for certain…it comes off real easy!! I have to remap a lot but at least its safe and not permanent. I was told the same thing, there are no white tip nail pencil being made anymore. Now they sell nail tip gel pens which dry permanent. I bought one of those and tried it on my test leg. Once it drys its also becomes permanent. So for now chalk it is!!
Thanks Lynn…I’m getting ready to go upstairs to do some more rooting. Like I mentioned before…last night I spent more time looking for the barb then doing the actual rooting. It got really frustrating. I didn’t know that there were different size barbs. That’s good to know!! TY also for the tips on cutting and using the mohair!
The pink pen is a felting tool that holds uncut needles. Michael’s, Hobby Lobby and BB all have them. They cost about $10. Once I find the barb, I just hold the pen in that position and root away. Also, blonde hair is hard to root. You can’t see the hair OR the barb. lol
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It’s just on my test head that has swirls and kinda almost swirls all over it so I’m not worried about it. Just saying it won’t come off so don’t try it on a good head!
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@JackieJo, to find where my barb is what i do is once I find it, I look to see where the top part of the little hook thing is sitting, it is usually poking right into my pointer finger when I use my 46 crown needles, so instead of trying to find the barb on the tiny needle I just have to make sure that little part on the top is pointing or poking into my pointer finger. Hope that made sense!
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Oh and @jackiejo, if you wet your head or your piece of chalk first, it stays on a bit better than Just drawing on dry. I use chalk sometimes too and find that it doesn’t just wipe right off so easily by Just lightly touching it, you gotta wet it and wipe it off
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shandeni…Thanks for the help!! I really appreciate it!! 
This isn’t such a great picture but this is what I’ve done so far after 4.5 hours of rooting. The color is suppose to be golden honey but it looks totally different in this picture. I’ll post a better picture tomorrow. I want the baby to have kind of sparse hair and am wondering if I’m rooting it more thick then I want it to be.
Looks like you’re getting it Jackie !! I always get my hair too thick, sparse rooting is really hard to accomplish and make look nice, I think. Are you doing better catching hair now? Have you tried NOT using the holder and just wrapping a rubberband around your needle above the thinnest part where the needle begins to thicken? It’s really easy to use that way. I have a holder but never use it. I think it is so easy to control with just the rubberband. Good Luck.
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Lynn…Yes my second day of rooting went much better then the first. For now I find the mushroom tool easy to work with but as I get better at rooting I do want to try using a rubber band around the top of the needle instead. Thank you for your help!! 
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I think what you are doing looks sparse and when you thin out the holes with more than a couple of hairs in them, I think you will be just fine.
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Looking good, JackieJo! I agree with Pia’s comment above. I gave up the mushroom tool fairly quickly and only use with a rubber band now.
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@shandeni - if you are using a “crown” needle, it has a barb on each edge so,you should have 3 positions with a barb!
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Thanks Michelle! Since I started rooting Laineys head with the mushroom I think its best to complete it like that. I have Rose’s head to root next so maybe I’ll try the rubber band method. This is the first time that I’ve done rooting and am rooting away from me.
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then you’d be me the old lady with arthritis !
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No, I don’t map either. I find I can sort of “see” it in my head. I barely have any experience rooting though, because I used to only paint, so my hair isn’t pretty like yours, Kim. I’ll hopefully get there.
I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough to root without mapping. I think it takes a special talent to be able to do that.
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I’m so sorry to be a pain but… 
here is a picture of my Lainey that I’m rooting. Being that this is the first time I’ve ever rooted I was would appreciate the expert advice for you ladies here. Do you think I’m rooting Lainey too thick?
Thickness is all a personal opinion. The most important thing is that it doesn’t look like hair plugs. I have no more than 2 hairs per hole. You might want to “root” through the hair and pull out any extra hairs with tweezers. I do this in small sections because it’s difficult to do once the head is completely rooted. I always think about monkeys, at this point, when they search through each other’s hair to look for fleas and such. 
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Looks thick to me, but when you pull out the extra hairs, you might be fine. I try to only pick a couple of hairs to root at a time. Are you using a tutorial? Most people don’t start with the front of the head?
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