Bergère de France 183: A Review Part Un

Bergère de France 183, which is a fall/winter collection, contains 44 patterns, so I'm going to split its review into two parts. Let's get started on the first half of the review, shall we?

Pattern #1, Roll Neck Sweater, Multicolour Version. It's hard to go wrong with a classic turtleneck, and I do like the yarn choice. I'd add waist shaping to this one.

Pattern #2, Roll-Neck Sweater, Classic Version. The same sweater in a solid. The waist shaping comment still applies.

Pattern #3, Roll Neck Sweater, Soft & Fluffy Version. Bergère de France is really getting their money's worth out of this pattern. I will say that the three variants are a good illustration of what different yarn choices can do for a pattern.

Pattern #4, Raglan Sweater, Multicolour Flecked Version. Effective and attractive use of colour blocking, and good shaping.

Pattern #5, Raglan sweater, Flecked Version. Absent the colour blocking, this isn't a very interesting sweater. Which is probably why Bergère de France has seen fit to pair it with jaguar shorts.

Pattern #6, Raglan Sweater, Classic 100% Wool Version. Another very plain version of the crewneck. This time the look is jazzed up with a pair of gold oxfords instead of with jaguar shorts. I can't deny that it was a better choice, if still not exactly a good one.

Pattern #7, Shawl Neck Sweater, Flecked Version. Classic shawl neck sweater for men that's freshened up a little by the use of toggles and the yarn choice.

Pattern #8, Button neck sweater, soft classic version. The same sweater as the previous one done in gray and with buttons instead of toggle fastenings. It's a nice variation.

Pattern #9, Jacket, long bouclé version. This looks like the kind of frumpy shapeless sweater one might have seen in an early nineties-era Canadian BiWay, along with remaindered books, discounted household items, and seedy middle-aged men buying satin boxers with gold lip prints on them. In other words, it's the furthest thing from chic.

Pattern #10, Jacket, Classic Version. Perhaps the previous version wasn't quite the furthest thing from chic, because the fastening on this one has made the design look significantly worse. When even a professional model like this one looks dumpy and frumpy in a pattern sample, it's best for the rest of us to steer clear.

Pattern #11, Crossover Cardigan, Soft Classic Version. So frumpy and badly shaped. Those buttons are too low down -- almost as though they're trying to make a run for it.

Pattern #12, Crossover Cardigan, Self-Patterning Yarn Version. Not an improvement. A good yarn choice can elevate a plain pattern, but it can't salvage a bad pattern.

Pattern #13, Jacket, Self-Patterning Yarn with Buttons Version. Nice simple pattern with a yarn choice that really works. I'm admiring the off-set stripe effect where the two sides of the front meet.

Pattern #14, Jacket, Classic Version with Zip. This is a very simple style but the lines are so good that it manages to look quite sharp.

Pattern #15, Jacket, Classic Version with Fasteners. Don't care too much for this one. It's too bland and the toggles aren't adding anything to the look.

Pattern #16, V-Neck Sweater, Flecked Version. Bland and frumpy. Even a simple v-neck sweater needs a little something to give it interest, such as flattering shaping and either a little detail or an attractive yarn choice.

Pattern #17, V-Neck Sweater, Recycled Cotton Version. The lines of this are pretty good on the whole but it does need waist shaping and any colour that isn't oatmeal.

Pattern #18, V-Neck Sweater, Light & Delicate Version. See what I mean? Any non-oatmeal colour will make a different thing of this sweater.

Pattern #19, Short Sleeve Sweater, Light & Delicate Version. Even a deconstructed piece like this needs a little more style and flattery than this one has.

Pattern #20, Snood. Turns out the collar of the last pattern was a snood that was knitted separately. I can't say that's an improvement on what I thought the construction was.

Pattern #21, Short Sleeve Sweater, Sparkling Version. Nicely shaped simple top.

Pattern #22, Snood. Honestly, these snoods look like some unfinished piece of something that the designer fastened together at the ends and slung randomly around the model's neck because she was working to deadline.

Bergère de France Magazine 182: A Review

I've allowed myself to get sadly behind on my Bergère de France Magazine reviews -- at present there are four issues on the waiting list. However, here is my review of the first of the four, and I'm going to try to do one a week until I'm caught up. Let's have a look at the patterns contained in issue 182, which is a winter issue for children aged 0-2.

Patterns #01 Girl's Cardigan, and #02 Boy's Cardigan. These are... undistinguished.

Patterns #03 Boy's Cardigan, and #04 Girl's Roll Edge Cardigan. Again, these are nothing special.

Patterns #05 Girl's Cardigan and Hat, and #06 Boy's Cardigan and Hat. Classic baby wear.

Pattern #07 Sleeveless Jacket. I'd have named this the Shapeless Jacket.

Pattern #08 Hooded Sleeveless Jacket. This one's basic but it's fine that way. Bouclé pieces really do need to be kept simple as the detail doesn't show effectively anyway.

Pattern #09 Sleeveless Fair Isle Jacket. This one's quite cute.

Pattern #10 Hooded Jacket. Another simple bouclé jacket.

Patterns #11 Boy's Hooded Jacket, #12 Girl's Hooded Jacket. Not bad, although they do look unnecessarily bulky. Surely the sleeves could have a little shaping?

Pattern #12 Dungarees. These are pretty cute. The appliquéd patches on the blue version are a nice touch.

Pattern #13 Fair Isle Dungarees. These aren't bad. I think I'd like the heart waist band better if it had another couple of stripes above and below.

Patterns #16 Dress, #17 Dress, and #18 Dress. Designating these three versions of the same dress as three different patterns is really pushing it, Bergère de France. Especially when the dress is so slapdash. It looks like a charity pupil uniform from a turn-of-the-last-century convent school.

Patterns #19 Dress, and #20 Openwork Dress. This must be the "dress uniform" that the aforementioned charity pupils from a turn-of-the-last-century convent school would have worn for class and cathedral services. The previous uniform must have been what they wore when on dish washing and floor scrubbing detail.

Patterns #21 through #28, assorted hats and slippers. These aren't terrible, but there really are so many cuter cat hat and slipper designs out there.

Patterns #29 through #35. Here's an assortment of boy's and girl's embroidered blankets, toy bees, sleeping bags, and a "product holder". I like the blankets, but the bees creep me out a little (why the glasses on the boy bee and the belt on the girl bee?), the sleeping bags look crude and slapped together, and the hanging stuff holder would stretch all to hell if it got any significant amount of use.

Nappy Holder. This is another item I wouldn't knit, because it would stretch out and doesn't look like anything special anyway. Some things really ought to be sewn.

Pattern #36, Hooded Jacket. This is a cute piece. I like the fastenings, which give a rather classic item a modern feel.

Bergère de France Magazine 181: A Review, part 2

Today we're going to look at the second half of the patterns in Bergère de France Magazine 181, the first half of the review having been posted two days ago. Hold on to your needles, knitters. The first half of this magazine was a bumpy ride and the second half isn't much of an improvement.

Pattern #25, Crochet Beanie. This, I am relieved to say, is a quite presentable and even cute hat.

Pattern #26, Cable Beanie. This hat isn't too bad, but those running stitches in ribbing need to go. I'd have put in some sort of stripe instead.

Pattern #27, Crochet Snood. Nice piece, if it is perhaps slightly too large scale for some women. However, that's easily corrected.

Pattern #28, Fluffy Snood. This would prove a cheering pop of colour as well as a warm, practical accessory on a bleak, cold day.





Patterns #29, Snood; 30, Fluffy Snood; 31, Large Snood, 32, Large Snood. And here we have a snaggle of snoods. These are very basic, but should be quite useful and even attractive if done in a good quality yarn in a beautiful colour.





Patterns #33, Bag with a Man's Face; and 34, Bag with a Woman's Face. These look like they were designed by an eight-year-old. To what adult mind do these look like good representations of male and female human faces? They look more like doodles of cats done up in stupid accessories, and the stitching around the faux leather top and bottom looks crude and unattractive in both samples. I think the faux leather bag kit that Bergère de France is trying to sell looks like a pretty decent product, but Bergère de France isn't doing themselves any favours by sabotaging their product's potential in this way.




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Patterns #35, Italy Slipper Socks; 36, Germany Slipper Socks; 37, Spain Slipper Socks; and 38, France Slipper Socks. I'm not liking these. They look crudely put together, and the flag theme isn't a particularly happy choice.

Pattern #39, Throw. This isn't terrible, but it isn't great either. Design really ought to involve some effort on the part of the designer.

Patterns #40, Super-Sized Cushion; and 41, Knitted iPad Mini Case. I'm really not getting why the Bergère de France staff think crude-looking embroidery constitutes an embellishment.

Pattern #42, Flag Hanging Pockets. This is tacky, and I'm not getting the thinking behind teaming up flags from the U.S., Laos, the U.K., and Iceland. Maybe it's meant to subtly express French scorn of their national cuisines....?

Pattern #43, Hello Hanging Pockets. I could see this hanging pocket idea working in a child's bedroom, a play room, a craft room, or a mud room, but even then I would want a better designed, more attractive version than this one.

Pattern #44, Oversized Pouffe. A dead simple garter stitch floor pillow isn't a bad idea, but I shouldn't think anyone would need a pattern for one.

Pattern #45, Shoulder Cape. Very presentable basic capelet. The only criticism I have of it is that it doesn't entirely hide the horror that lies beneath it, and that is probably not a fair expectation.

Pattern #46, Round Neck Sweater. Seriously, Bergère de France? Your staffers were presented with a slightly too plain colour-blocked sweater that needed a little something more on it, and their response was... to sketch a bizarre pursed lip expression on it? The mind. It is so blown. But then maybe that was the point.