How to knit a lightning design

"I decided not to limit any design in this book to a specific yarn or needle size, or even garment shape. I present you instead with a treasure trove of charted patterns that could end up, in your imaginative hands, as large-scale opera coats or blankets (I've even knitted a set of curtains), or scaled down to create miniature doll's garments and accessories worked on the thinnest needles with the finest thread-like yarns. And colours! The magic element in any knitted garment or soft furnishing is the colour scheme you bring to it –- from the darkest of broody moods through to delicate faded pastels. The colours in the swatches in my collection are just a starting point. It's up to you to ring the changes and use the pattern charts to experiment for yourself."

– Kaffe Fassett, Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library (The Taunton Press, 2003)

Lightning Pattern

Made for a Peruvian Connection collection, this knit came from an ancient Peruvian pattern. It is excellent for showing off many good colours in a single design.

Chart Note: The chart provides a simple regular repeat, but you can vary the width of the diagonal zigzags if you like. Each stripe uses a different set of closely toning shades. Vary the outline colours.

To get the pattern chart click here.

Excerpted from Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library by Kaffe Fassett Copyright 2003 by Kaffe Fassett. Excerpted, with permission by The Taunton Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.