Fine hair hard to grow?

Absolutely not.

Catt_Grrl is finehaired, and I think Dave might be too. Both have hair past their knees.

It's all related to the gentle care you give. Avoid blow drying, chemical treatments, perms, dyes, any kind of heat. Fine hair is more easily damaged from these things. In turn, you can protect your fine hair from damage by detangling gently, wearing buns and braids, using lots of conditioner, taking a multivitamin, eating right, drinking enough water, and staying active.

Hope this helps!
Anais 

I have fine hair that is now almost to my waist.  I wear a bun most days and also try to follow the basic "rules" suggested by Anais.  But it is funny how many people (friends, relatives, hairstylists) have "advice" for the finehaired--that people with fine hair should have it cut short.  I've never understood the logic that if you have less hair to begin with, that you need to cut it so you have even less.  Growing hair long, even tho it is fine, I feel, makes up for its lack of heft.  Also bear in mind that it is only since the flapper-era (US c. 1920s) short hair was popularized for women.  Before that, women (finehaired or not) spent very little time considering "to cut or not to cut" and merely let it grow.

Don't give up your hair dream, at least try it before you give it up anyway!  Is your hair straight or curly? 

If its straight, keeping your hair blunt cut -straight across on the bottom with no layers- will keep it looking the thickest it can be. (Tapering hair can look very nice too, this is just if you're concerned about how thick it looks).

If your hair is curly, blunt cut may look quite thick, or layers near the ends will make your curls taper (either way looks very nice, its all up to you).  

How about "typing" your hair according to Fia's method? If you click on the letters across the top, it will also show samples of the different straight/wavy/curly classifications.

You can go in between classifications too. For example, I am approximately 1c M/C ii/iii. Classifying your hair will make it a lot easier for us to "picture" your hair.

Anais 

Ooops! I did the third part of Fia's method wrong - my thinness is ii, but on the low side of ii.

Ohhh I love the look of 2a hair! Especially long. You can do it!

Anais

Thanks Specialkitty!  My hair is 1B M ii.  My ponytail is 3 3/4" around, so its at the upper end of ii, but still ii.  Your hair doesn't sound especially thin to me, if its M ii, I wouldn't think you'd have any problems at all, and with it wavy it will look like it has more volume than us straighties.

You all are great! So supportive! Now I definitely feel like I can do this. It really helps to hear your experiences and read your stories. I will try to get some pics taken soon so you can see how my hair looks now and then I will post updates on the progress. Thanks again!

Thanks, Dave! I will get a "now" pic up as soon as I get home from vacation. I was telling MissRini that my hair is just now at shoulder length, so quite a ways to go. I feel fortunate to have found the board though because my hair growth will be healthy now!