Ellington

Kaffe Fassett, who has been called the "Mick Jagger of the knitting world," is planning a "homecoming" in Chattanooga.

The California artist was born in San Francisco, came of age in Big Sur in the '60s and has lived in London for the last 40 years, but his roots run deep in Chattanooga. Fassett's paternal grandfather was Edward Lee McCallie, son of Thomas Hooke McCallie, founder of The McCallie School and the Presbyterian pastor who served Chattanooga during the Civil War.

His first trip to Chattanooga for a series of Color in Design workshops also includes a talk and slide show at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Girls Preparatory School, 205 Island Ave. Tickets are $17.50.

Fassett's groundbreaking work in knitting took the textile world by storm 40 years ago. Best known for his sense of color and exuberant pattern, he has published more than 15 books, which have sold in the millions, created more than 400 fabric designs and seen his hand-stitched garments on permanent tour around the world for almost two decades.

His credentials include a one-man show in 1988 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It was the first for a living artist, and attendance broke records. He hosted his own BBC show, "Glorious Color," and has been the subject of several documentaries. A write-up in Vogue led to work with Missoni, the Italian fashion house.

Today, he designs yarn colors and knit patterns for Rowan, fabrics for Westminster Fibers, garments for Peruvian Connection and pajamas for Pine Cone Hill. He has his own line of tablewares at Neiman Marcus, and continues to knit once-offs, paint still-lifes and take on needlepoint commissions.