How to Diz Roving off a Drumcarder

I work with my drumcarder a lot, and dizzed roving from the drumcarder is one of my favorite preparations to spin. But I don’t think I’ve ever managed to pull the roving off in one continuous strip—I always end up making lots of little roving nests. So I was completely floored when Caitlin Killdeer from the Yarn Barn of Kansas did it in one fell swoop, like it was no big deal. Then she flipped her Ashford diz stick around and made a fabulously squishy ball of roving that she then gifted to me and my fiber stash. I couldn’t wait to spin it. Check out her tips for dizzing roving from the drumcarder in the free video below.

Of course, fiber preparation is just the beginning—what did this batt want to become? I decided to spin it up on autopilot, with my default longdraw style, and aiming for about 10 wraps per inch on the singles.

The batt, paired with the spindle-spun singles for spiral plying.

Then I paired the wheel-spun singles from my batt with spindle-spun singles left over from another project, à la Debbie Held’s Inspired Spiral Plies. The result is a delightfully springy color combination, extended yardage for both sets of singles, and the inspiration to keep practicing dizzing that elusive continuous strip of roving from my drumcarder.

Pamela’s finished yarn.

Resources

• New to the drumcarder? Get started with a free video tip from Emily Wohlscheid in Learn How to Blend Your First Batt on the Drumcarder.
• Learn more about spiral plying in Save Your Leftover Singles for Inspired Spiral Plies.