Working on Selvedges and Speed

  I have a bad habit of touching my edges while weaving, which slows the process down, and doesn't necessarily make the selvedges any better than if left alone.  I had some trouble yesterday with the left edge and realized I had a crossed thread.  Ordinarily, I wouldn't do this, but it was so close to the edge that I just broke it off and continued weaving.  The lump I was getting at the edge straightened right out after that.

Towels make a good project to work on selvedges unless they are being made to sell.  Technique can be worked on, and it still produces something useful.  I have found that it only took part of one towel to start getting a rhythm going, speed picked up, and once I fixed the crossed warp, I haven't touched the selvedges.  The paperclip temple has also helped keep the towel from drawing in as much.  What a quick, inexpensive fix.  It should be visible in the following photo.

To use, just spread one leg of the paperclip out a little and hook it on the edge of the fabric.
I attached some heavy linen rug warp and heavy fender washers to the clip for weight.  They drape over a thick cord tied to each side of the loom.

I have seen photos of others using alligator clips instead of paper clips.  I would probably do that if I was working on something with very fine threads.

I've started the 4th towel on this warp.  I'm using up some yarn that I dyed.  The quantities are small, so there will be a lot of color changes.  I hate doing yarn changes, but I like how it looks when it's done.  The start of it is to the right.