Ask Madelyn: Managing Weft Colors

Hi Madelyn,

I have a pattern that calls for 8 picks of light and then 8 picks of dark. How do I keep the selvedge edge from having a long loop of one of the colors? I don’t want to cut the yarn and then re-enter it because the piece would be somewhat skewed at the edges. Do I just weave it and then work the edges afterwards with a small hem, binding or crochet it?

—Victoria

Hi, Victoria!

There is a good system for this that works very well. The shuttle with the weft that isn’t being used, the inactive shuttle, rests at one side of the loom. When you weave with the other shuttle, you take its weft around the weft of the inactive shuttle as the active shuttle exits and enters the shed (on the side where the inactive shuttle is resting). On my Baby Wolf, I loop the weft of the inactive shuttle around one of the uprights on the beater, which makes it sort of positioned like a floating selvedge. Then it’s really easy to go around the thread each time. It’s not as easy as having NO inactive weft to worry about, but it is MUCH easier than cutting and starting and it makes a very good, smooth selvedge.

Try it!

—Madelyn