# diz explanation please



## sbanks (Dec 19, 2010)

What is a diz? what is it used for? how do you use one?

And anything else you can think of.

thanks


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

A diz is a thing (horn, wood, plastic, metal) that has one or more sized holes and is used to pull fibers through to make roving or top or sliver after the fibers have been combed or carded. I'm not sure you can use them on fibers not combed or carded but I suppose you could. Here's a youtube I made about how I make roving from a batt from my drum carder. The diz I used is the little plastic top from a spice jar or a button, I can't remember which [ame]http://www.youtube.com/user/merlotsmom#p/a/u/2/UJCPkCoi3T4[/ame]


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

nice video! So you are predrafting with the diz? I wonder if that's part of my problem. My rovings I bought are about 5x what you are pulling through the diz. I have a hard time drafting without pulling the roving/rolag apart.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Callie with your roving you can just split it into more manageable pieces. Break off say 3' lengths, and split them into however many pieces of whatever size feels right for you. I don't think a diz would work for you in this situation. You would probably mess up the rest of the roving.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

What?!? Me!!! ??? Mess up something!?!??? Say it isn't so!!! 

So you only use the diz for batts? (I'm a gonna get this jargon sooner or later.)


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Well batts or if you are combing fibers you would use it to pull the fibers off the combs


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

So the purpose of the diz is to make a rolag for spinning from combed fibers?


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Callie a rolag is made with hand cards from carded fibers, it is a special way of rolling the fibers off the hand cards and makes a little cocoon worm looking thing. If you are carding cotton you would be making what is called a puni (poony). How to card wool and make rolags [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_fIc5lCuk[/ame] (great music only about 6 min long).


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

okay...I think there are just WAYYYYYY too many terms for this hobby! LOL!!! :hijacked: What's the difference between a rolag and a roving?


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

A rolag is the cigar shaped thing you get off hand cards, and roving is a long strip of fibre that came either from combs or a drum carder. Roving that has all the fibres aligned the same way (i.e. it was combed not carded) is caled *top*.

Here is info on a diz (and combs): http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/using-a-diz.html

and if you look at the left of the page there, you can see links on how to use hand cards, drum carders, etc. Lots of good info there.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Callie here is a good explanation of what a roving is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roving


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## sbanks (Dec 19, 2010)

Just washed some Icelandic fleece and this is a rolag that was made on the carder it is laying on. Please excuse the lighting.








I can stretch this out to about 2 foot long, pre draft.


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## sbanks (Dec 19, 2010)

Hijack me its ok I will learn new stuff that way too.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yea, we hijak threads all the time and they always lead to interesting things. We all learn things this way. We learn in the telling and in the listening.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I just have so many questions. Okay- rolag from hand carding. roving from carding machine. I already had the side MW posted on my favorites bar.....


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