Weft Floats Scarf
Our woven Weft Floats Scarf may look complicated with its striking waffle weave and precise design, but this lovely scarf is anything but… The trick is simply threading a pick up stick through selected warp threads (just once when you warp the loom), then, as you weave, flipping the stick onto its edge on selected rows, creating an extra heddle and those distinctive dashes, aka floats!

To create this beautiful design, we used Schacht Spindle Company’s tabletop Cricket Loom, a weaving wonder roundly celebrated for its ease in every important category: learning, using, and storing. It’s small enough that you can bring it wherever you want and store it almost anywhere at all when you’re not using it.

For our Weft Floats Scarf, we used our Season Alpaca, a wonderful weaving yarn. Its smooth spin highlights details and textures beautifully, but its 100% baby alpaca content is gentle and squishy enough to soften the edges. Warp on with this exceptional yarn and create some floats!

Designed for Purl Soho by Carrie Laing.
Materials

- 4 skeins of Season Alpaca, 100% baby alpaca. We used Dove Gray.
- Schacht Spindle Company’s 15-inch Cricket Loom
- 15-inch, 8 dent Cricket Reed, included with the Cricket Loom
- A Cricket Pick Up Stick, 15-inch
Structure
Plain Weave With Weft Floats
Warp
Warp Length: 98 inches (includes 26 inches of loom waste)
Warp Ends: 114
Width in Reed: 14 inches
Ends Per Inch (E.P.I): 10
Picks Per Inch (P.P.I): 17
Size
Finished Dimensions, Unblocked: 13 ½ inches x 72 inches long, with a 1-inch fringe
Finished Dimensions, Blocked: 12 ½ inches x 72 inches long, with a 1-inch of fringe
Notes
Cricket Loom Tips
Cricket Looms come with a very user-friendly instructional booklet that walks you through every step of the weaving process, from assembling the loom to tying the fringe. For even more guidance, check out our Cricket Loom Tips.
Placing And Using The Pick Up Stick
To create weft floats, you need to weave the pick up stick through the weft threads. Here’s how…
First, put the heddle in the down position. You will weave the pick up stick behind the heddle and only through the warp threads that are in the up position.

From the right, insert the pick up stick under the first up warp thread and over the second up warp thread, under the next up warp thread and over the next.

Continue weaving under and over the up warp threads until you have reached the last thread.

For Row 4 of the pattern, first put the heddle in the neutral position, so all the strings are lying flat and no shaft is open. Then turn the pick up stick so it is lying on one of its long edges, raising different warp threads in order to create the floats.
NOTE: These photos were taken on a 10-inch loom, not the 15-inch one we used to make our actual scarf.
Pattern
Warp The Loom
Set up the warping peg 98 inches from the back of the loom. Note that, at this point, the back of the loom is clamped to the far edge of the table and so is the side farther away from the warping peg.
Tie the yarn to the back apron bar.
With an 8-dent reed in place, begin threading the heddle by pulling the first loop of yarn through the second slat from the right end of the reed.
Working from right to left, thread the next 56 slats so there are 57 slats threaded in total.
Tie the yarn to the back apron bar.
Wind on the warp using paper to separate the layers.
Working from right to left, thread the yarn through each of the holes on the heddle.
You should have a total of 114 warp threads.
Tie the warp threads on to the front apron bar in groups of 6.
Weave
Using scrap yarn, weave until the warp threads are evenly spread out, about 1 inch.
Wind a shuttle with the yarn you’re using to make your scarf.
Leaving a 36-inch tail, which you will use at the end for finishing, weave in plain weave for 1 1/2 inches, ending with a down-heddle row.
Now weave in the following pattern…
Row 1: Heddle in up position
Row 2: Heddle in down position
Row 3: Heddle in up position
Row 4: Heddle in neutral position; turn stick (see Notes)
Repeat Rows 1-4 until piece measures 70 1/2 inches from beginning of plain weave, refilling the shuttle as needed, and ending with Row 3.
Weave in plain weave for 1 1/2 inches, as you did at the beginning of the scarf, leaving a 36-inch tail for finishing.
Finish
For a complete how-to on this step, visit our Finishing with Hemstitch Tutorial.
Use the 36-inch tails to finish each end of the scarf with a hemstitch.
Make the hemstitch around groups of 6 warp ends across the width of the scarf.
Cut the fringe 1 inch from the end of the weaving.
Weave in the hemstitch tails and gently hand wash your finished scarf in cold water, laying it flat to dry.

Beautiful scarf. Thank you for sharing. Definitely going to weave one.
I have been wanting to make my first scarf and this is the pattern i am going to use Thank You so much
Absolutely stunning. I have a question about the reed. Shouldn’t one use a 10 dent reed for 10 e.p.i. ? I’m not sure the 8 dent reed will give you 114 warp ends over 14”.
Sorry! I see that 114 warp ends will be covered in 14” of 8 dent reed. Just confudsed about the epi.
Agree. Using a 8 dent heddle, the epi is 8, not 10.
Hello Paola,
Thanks for reaching out! Your ends per inch have to do with your dent size, but also the size of your yarn and the particular weave that your pattern calls for. You will not always get the same e.p.i. on on a 8 dent or a 10 dent.
I hope this makes sense and let us know if you have any further questions!
Happy weaving,
Marilla
Can you weave this narrower or wider?
Hi Kari,
Great question! You absolutely can! To make this wider or narrower, you will want to add or subtract sets of 4 weft strands!
I hope that this help!
Cassy
I would love to make this on my 4 harness loom. Could you share how I could do this? Thank you.
Hi Marion!
You can easily use this pattern for your 4 harness loom! The trick is to ignore your 3rd and 4th harnesses completely and thread harnesses 1 and 2 every other warp end so they are ready to weave plain weave
The “weft floats” can be created manually woven with the same technique in the Notes or you can use the 3rd harness to weave this row. Your harnesses would then be threaded in this order: 3-2-1-2
Row 1: lift harness 2
Row 2: lift harnesses 1 & 3
Row 3: lift harness 2
Row 4: lift harness 3
I hope this helps!
Carly
Carly, wouldn’t it also work to thread and tie-up the warp threads 1-2-3-4, and to treadle 1-3, 2-4, 1-3, 4 on a rising shed loom?
Hi Susan!
Thank you so much for your comment! There are a few ways to do it and your method is definitely correct!
Best,
Carly
Thank you!
New weaver here! If using a 4-shaft loom, 114 warp threads would not be divided evenly over the 4 shafts. Threading 1-2-3-4 would leave 2 extra threads. Any advice? Thanks.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for writing in! I chatted with the weaver and you can add an additional 2 warp threads to make the number divisible by 4 and then it should work on your 4 shaft loom!
Best,
Cassy
Thank you!
where is the drawing of the harnesses, threading, tying
and so on.
just to describe it is not what we do in weaving.
Hi Sara,
Thanks for reaching out! For this lovely pattern and all of our weaving patterns, we use a Cricket rigid heddle loom. As such, there are no harnesses to draw. We do have a handy page of tips to set up and weave on your Cricket Loom that can be found here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/cricket-loom-tips/
Additionally, Schacht does provide and instruction manual with the loom that shows both how to assemble to loom but also how to warp them loom!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Gorgeous!
Lovely.
Wondering if the Cotton Pure yarn might work for this project?
Hi!
Great question! I think that Cotton Pure could work well here! Be sure to knit a gauge swatch as you always will when you switch yarns to be sure that you like the fabric!
Best,
Cassy
I started weaving this, but the patterning is not looking the same as in the images here. I am not getting the same vertical patterning. Am I reading this correctly? 3 picks plain weave, starting in the up position. Then 1 pick with the pattern stick? And the pattern stick is lifting every other warp end when the reed is in the down position? I am using a slightly finer yarn on a 10 dent reed. But there seems to be much more space between the weft floats than it appears in the photos here. Is it just a question of beating down more firmly? Please advise. Thanks.
Hi Kara!
Thanks for writing in! It sounds like you’re having an issue with the picks per inch. Using a finer yarn might be the cause of the issue. I would recommend beating the weft a little bit harder if there are gaps in the weft yarns.
I hope this helps!
Carly
Never weaved before but this loom sounds great! Is there a video to look at in addition to written instructions? Sounds complicated for someone not familiar with weaving. Thx.
Hello May,
Thank you for reaching out! We do not currently have a video tutorial for this loom, though we do have a written tutorial. I would also recommend “Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom” for a fantastic clear, in-depth descriptions.
Happy Weaving,
Marilla
First let me say that I am in love with this pattern. I am not a weaver, unfortunate, so I wouldn’t be able to attempt a recreation. Here’s my question: is there a way to knit thus pattern, or something similar? **Currently crossing my fingers**
Hello Jessica,
Thank you for reaching out and for your kind words! We actually have a really lovely cowl that is knitted and has a similar look to it. It is called the Floats Cowl.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
Marilla
Question: I warped my rigid heddle loom with the requisite number of 114 warp ends, but mine ends on the right side with a hole, rather than a slot, changing the position of the right selvedge thread from up in a down heddle to down. When I work across with my pick up stick to pick up the required threads to make the floats, I end up with one that goes off the right side of the scarf and doesn’t catch the selvedge in the way indicated in the pattern. Can you suggest a workaround for this? Thanks!
Hi Kurt,
Thanks for writing in! I am sorry to hear this! For this pattern to work, you will need the last warp thread to go through a slat rather than a hole. You can rewarp the loom or you could remove the first warp thread on the right side and then 3 warp threads from the left side. This second option will remove one repeat but then set you up to be able to weave the pattern as written!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I’m interested in making this scarf into a throw by weaving 3 individual scarves and then sewing them together. Do you think that could work?
Hello Lindy,
Thank you for reaching out! This sounds like a lovely idea, and would be the best way to create a woven throw without a large loom.
Let us know how it goes!
-Marilla
I would love to try this pattern as the texture looks great, but I’m a little confused about the sett. You are using Season Alpaca which is more or less sport weight with an 8 dent reed (typical for worsted or aran) and you give 10epi. How do you get 10 ends per inch on an 8 dent heddle? Also is it a very open weave with such fine yarn? I hope you can advise.
Thanks,
Patrick
Hello Patrick,
Thanks for reaching out! These are all great questions. The weft floats create a denser weave, which is why we used an 8 dent. Your E.P.I. is determined by a the combination of your dent size, the yarn you are using, and your weave.
Happy Weaving,
Marilla
Hello Marilla,
Thanks for the prompt response. I hadn’t thought of the draw in from the floats. I have only experimented a little with floats hence my keen interest in this pattern. Very helpful advice. 🙂
Thanks,
Patrick
I will be using your Season Alpaca to weave this scarf for my husband. Do the cut fringe ends need to be treated in any way to prevent them from unraveling- getting fuzzy or does this yarn hold it’s twist? Aloha from Hawaii.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for reaching out with your question! The fringe ends were just trimmed after the hemstitch and left as-is. Over time they will probably untwist a bit. Season Alpaca is a lovely yarn with a beautiful drape – one of my all-time favorites of our yarns! If you wanted to avoid having them loosen over time, you could plan for a longer fringe and knot the end of each thread, but that would definitely change the hand-feel of the fringe. I hope this helps!
Best,
Cassandra
Thanks Cassandra. I’ll sample some fringe options 1st. Another question- when I am in the down shed I start my weft entering from the right & when in the up shed I initiate my weft yarn from the left. Does this matter in your pattern instructions “row 1: heddle in up position”?
Hi Lisa,
Just ending the section of plain weave with the heddle in the correct position so you can follow the rows accordingly is what’s important here. I hope this helps!
Best,
Cassandra
Hi there,
I’m learning to weave currently and I’m wondering if it’s possible to do the same sort of pattern on a tapestry loom with a heddle. Unfortunately, I don’t have a rigid heddle loom!
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for asking about this! I think it would be possible to do this on a tapestry loom, you’d just follow the pattern and pick up the floats rows in the same way you do it on the rigid heddle loom, since you are picking up every warp thread manually in tapestry weaving anyway. Unless your tapestry loom is large enough to fit the full length of the warp, you might have to do it in sections and seam them together. I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions!
Best,
Cassandra
It works! It takes a little more finesse but you can totally make it work on a tapestry loom. I recommend a couple of small tweaks though. When you turn the pickup stick, it’s easier to see the warps you need when the heddle is in the down position. The warps raised by the pickup stick will be just slightly higher than the ones lifted by the heddle in down position, so you’ll have to isolate them with the shuttle as you pass through. Because the heddle for a tapestry loom is open at the top, some of these warps might pop out so keep an eye on those and get them back into position to avoid any mistakes. Feel free to relay this to anyone else hoping to try this pattern on a tapestry loom!
I ama fairly new weaver. Been weaving about a year mainly learning from YouTube videos and online classes such as Kelly Casanova.I made this scarf on my Cricut Rigid heddle loom and was quite pleased with how it was going until I took it off the loom and saw the back side. I was extremely careful to follow the directions exactly and looked at each pick to make sure I followed the setting carefully and didn’t miss any warp threads. On the back though there are a number of places where the weft is more prominent causing a raised line of stitching, like a ridge. ( Wish I could show you a picture). I was using a lovely alpaca yarn given to me by a friend. It was not made commercially but spun in New Zealand so did have some irregular parts here and there but that was not really where the problem was. Any idea of what I might have done wrong?
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much for reaching out! Without seeing your weaving, it sounds like this might be due to the nature of the handspun yarn you are using. I would try to carefully stretch it a bit while you are blocking it to see if this helps smooth it out and minimize the issue. I hope this helps!
Happy weaving!
Jessica
Can I substitute the Season Alpaca for Understory in this pattern?
Thanks,
Margaret
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for reaching out! You can certainly use Understory for this scarf pattern!
All the best,
Gianna
Hi, I am new to weaving and am excited to try this project! Is there a trick to keeping track of the length of the piece as you weave? How will I know when I have reached the 70.5 inches?
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for reaching out! You Can keep track of the length by measuring from. the base of the work where you began to weave!
I hope this helps,
Warmly,
Gianna
I made this scarf with a beautiful silver-blue yarn and it’s one of the most stunning things I’ve ever made on my loom. This pattern is simple, elegant, and was such a dream to weave. Thank you!
Dear Purl Soho Team,
Thank you for this beautiful pattern. I would like to use Cashmere Merino Bloom for this scarf, would you recommend?
All the Best,
NK
Hi Neslihan,
Thanks for reaching out. You can absolutely use Cashmere Merino Bloom for this pattern! It’s a great yarn for weaving. Just a heads up though that it’s DK weight, so it’s a bit thicker than the yarn we designed the scarf in originally. You’ll end up with a slightly denser woven fabric!
All the best,
Lili
This is the BEST tutorial/pattern I have found to show how to do a weft float or waffle type weave. Thank you! So easy to use and understand. I’m going to try mine today!
Hi Criss,
We’re truly so happy that you’re enjoying our tutorial! Thank you for your incredibly kind comment and we hope you have an amazing rest of your day!
All the best,
Cat