Self-educated textile and knitwear designer, painter and writer, brought up in California, America, where his parents ran a restaurant. There he met people from Britain, became interested in its culture and moved there in the mid-1960s. After a time in Bath, he settled in London to paint seriously and became inspired by the street markets and the Victoria & Albert Museum (it was to give him the first major exhibition for a contemporary textile artist in 1988). Friendship with the designer Bill Gibb and a trip to Scotland inspired Kaffe (pronounced Kayf) to start serious knitting. He held successful exhibitions around the world and produced books such as Glorious Knitting, 1985; Family Album, 1989; and Glorious Interiors, 1995. In 1997 there was a sixtieth birthday show at The Catto Gallery of his colourful still life paintings.