Fall/Winter Collection from Bergere de France

It’s the time of year for new pattern collections and knitting magazines, and I’m going to share as many of them with you as I can because I know we all need some new things to knit.

Today it’s the catalog from Bergere de France, which has a whopping 159 designs for men, women, children and the home. The catalog itself cost $10 (or free if you’re a new customer) and comes with yarn samples, but you can also check out the look book (all 230 pages!) of browse the patterns online for plenty of wintertime inspiration.

There are lots of deep, chunky cables and classic colorwork in this collection. I love the Tar Tan Jacket, a ladies cardigan worked in four colors that’s as classic as it is beautiful. The Two-Way Sweater, which works as a top with a giant cowl or as a dress, looks warm and fuzzy and is actually easy to knit.

While there are a lot of classic designs here, you’ll also find some more modern choices like the fur stole and the cabled dolman sleeve cape. There are cropped sweaters for women and grandpa styles for men, as well as looks inspired by the ski slopes and weekend football games.

This collection will also get you geared up for next spring and summer, with cute tops in pastels, openwork sweaters perfect for the shore and easy tunics you’ll want to wear all season.

You can also deck out your favorite kiddos in woodland inspired knits (I’m pretty in love with the Crochet Over Dress, but not sure I have the chops for it). There are projects here inspired by the slopes and others that are perfect for outside play at school as well. And the baby rompers and jackets are just too cute to pass up. And that’s not even to mention the slippers, accessories, kits and more that are featured in this catalog.

When you look through the look book online, click on any picture to bring up the yarn needs and cost. (The whole pattern book is $20, which seems a great deal for the number of patterns involved.)

If you take a closer look, I’d love to know what catches your eye!

[Photo via Bergere de France.]

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

Looking for Fall patterns to Knit? Check out these Fall knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Next Pattern:

Stitch dictionaries are a fun way to learn new-to-you knitting stitch patterns or to take a deep dive into a particular technique. Debbie Tomkies offers 100 cable stitch designs and thoughts on how to incorporate them into projects in her Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary.

Each stitch pattern is shown in a large swatch photo and with written and charted instructions. Any special stitches are included on the page. The stitches are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 3, and the pattern notes also indicate how many extra stitches you should add to a project if you’re going to work this cable (since cables pull the fabric closer together you need to compensate for that) as well as how many stitches and rows are in the repeat if you want to design a project yourself.

The cables are arranged into sections: classic cables, combinations, all-over panels, creative cables, motifs and panels and cabled edges and borders.

It’s fun to flip through the designs to think about projects you can add a single cable or two to or make with an allover cabled design. Or you could make swatches of different cables and sew them together into a pillow cover or a throw.

At the back of the book there’s a section on general cable knitting techniques, reading charts, working swatches and avoiding errors (though it mentions working the wrong number of rows between cable turns, it doesn’t share how to count rows between cables to avoid this mistake).

It also talks about how to design your own cables, combine cables in a project, choose the right yarn and needles and determine how many more stitches you need to cast on when working cables instead of stockinette stitch. There’s also a glossary of symbols and abbreviations you may find in cable knitting and other patterns.

The book provides a good overview of things you can do with cables, as well as some fun things you might not have tried like infinity cables and horizontal cables. It’s a great book for a designer who likes to work with cables or a knitter who wants to play with different stitches in their projects.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback, 100 stitch patterns. Published 2024 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $26.99.

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