# Why would I use a diz?



## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Having read on here about using a spice lid for a diz, I found a slotted spoon with a hole about the size of a spice lid and figured "hey, that'll work for a diz!"

So I took a freshly carded batt of fleece and pulled it through the hole in the spoon. I ended up with a very pretty ball of roving.

The thing is, to pull through the spoon I had to hold the batt away from the back with one hand, and then pull the thinner strand through with the other. I couldn't let the batt push up against the back of the spoon, or it all got stuck and I couldn't get anything through. Was I doing someting wrong?

I figured I should try spinning with this little skinny roving, so I did. It wasn't really much different than when I spin from a split chunk of batting (normally I pull the batt into a piece about as wide as my hand, or a bit narrower, and then spin from that, I just move the drafting triangle one way or the other a bit to catch the fuzzy bits and feed into the yarn ... if that makes any sense).

So ... was there some point to this whole diz exercise? I figure I must be missing the key point.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Nope you didn't miss anything. I happen to find it very relaxing to sit and pull the fibers through a diz (thanks Cyndi for the tips on this). I used to pull the batts like you do, into strips, and I may do it again. But for now I find this new step far more relaxing. I'd rather struggle with the batt thinning it and pulling it through a small hole before I spin. I will usually find second cuts or knots or VM that didn't come out previously, so in some ways it is a time saver, for me.

The bottom line Frazzle is if you (the collective "you") are happy with what you are doing nothing is wrong, just different.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Usually you use a diz to take the wool off the drum carder. You don't have the trouble controlling the batt when you do it. It works really well if you want roving rather than a batt. For me I like roving better because I use a drop spindle walking around, so having a continuous rope I can rap around my wrist or throw over my shoulder is easier than caring either a batt or strips of a bat. If you are using a wheel there is no real advantage just a personal choice.
Ann(Ross' Wife)


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Here's a Youtube film on dizing off a carder [ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=U_A6O4XMNjg"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=U_A6O4XMNjg[/ame]


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## Susan n' Emily in TN (May 10, 2002)

Now I have got to go try that one. Have any of you tried it? Susan


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

frazzlehead said:


> So ... was there some point to this whole diz exercise? I figure I must be missing the key point.


LOL...I'm missing it,too. I find batts much easier to spin from than roving, so to me taking a perfectly good batt and turning it into roving is like grabbing a parachute and jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. The end result may be the same, but the journey is different.

And I realize full well that I'm in the minority on preferring batts! 

Meg


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Meg Z said:


> LOL...I'm missing it,too. I find batts much easier to spin from than roving, so to me taking a perfectly good batt and turning it into roving is like grabbing a parachute and jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. The end result may be the same, but the journey is different.
> 
> And I realize full well that I'm in the minority on preferring batts!
> 
> Meg




:rotfl: 
Yeah, being a wheel spinner and spinning from my own prepared batts I just don't find the extra work satisfying either.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

You know it's funny. I never liked roving either. But, what I think I don't like is the roving I have bought because it has always sliver and that stuff drives me nuts. I absolutely hate spinning off sliver. But the roving I make from my batts are like spinning off the batt but easier to handle. I'm usually up and down so many times when I spin it is easier to have a ball to tuck into my wheel's spokes then it is to have a wonderfully fluffy batt that I had to place some place carefully so a cat doesn't mistake if for a bed  Besides, this is just another option I have, I can either spin from the batt or if I have the time I'll make it into roving.

That video makes it look so hard. That guy is really cranking on the fibers and that roving is awfully thick. That just looks like too much work to me.


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