This 5 minute video lets Kaffe Fassett describe in his inimitable, colourful way, how he discovered knitting and brought his painterly eye to it, bringing a wave of colour into 1980s knitting in Britain.

Also, don’t miss another post on this blog about quilting here.  Both these videos are recorded in his home, which is a wonderful explosion of colour in itself.

Why are there so many posts about Kaffe Fassett on this blog?

Because his enthusiasm for colour is infectious, because I’ve heard him speak in person, some years ago, when he showed amazing pictures of startling colours which left the viewers open-mouthed and silent.  This surprised him “You’re very quiet”, he said – he is American originally and possibly more used to loud exclamations and audible feedback – but this was Ireland and he was at the height of his fame and no one wanted to miss a syllable of what he said, or miss an inch of the pictures he was showing in their glowing colours.

I also made a pilgrimage to his lifetime retrospective in Aberdeen a few years back – together with another textile friend.  I’ll put up some photos shortly about that.

When he exploded onto the knitwear scene in the seventies/eighties, jumpers were oatmeal coloured and drab.  His colour fearlessness was a blast of joy and verve.