A pick-at-will loom features multiple shuttle boxes on both sides of the sley, allowing the weaver to insert any available weft color into the shed at any time. This contrasts with simpler mechanisms that require a fixed sequence or an even number of picks per color. It gives total freedom in designing complex asymmetric checks, plaids, and multi-colored weft patterns.
Heard on the job
We need to run this tartan on a pick-at-will loom so we can drop in that single red thread every fifty picks.