The simple definition of being a cloth bearing a checkered design does not do justice to the myriad possibilities of intersecting colors.

Consider the creativity involved in conceiving patterns that range from a tiny gingham check to a hand-woven plaid employing twenty colors.

Scottish tartans are a world unto themselves, in which every pattern and color combination represents a family kinship. District checks also tell the story of where you are from, who owns the land, and the family from whom you descend. Tattersall checks take their name from London's famous horse market and the blankets worn by the horses there. Tweed and Shetland woolen plaids each contain a complex combination of colors within each ply of yarn, which creates a fabric that has an almost endless variation of compound colors.