Bergère de France Magazine 175: A Review

Bergère de France has released Magazine 175, in which they've not only aimed to appeal to young people but to try to teach them to knit by offering them patterns of progressive and calculated difficulty, which I must admit is ambitious all around. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

Pattern 01, Beanie. Simple, easy garter stitch hat. It's not bad. The knob on top is a little odd but it's in proportion and integrated with the rest of the design so I think it works fairly well.

Pattern 02, Short-Sleeved Sweater, Pattern 03A, Grey Mug Cosy, Pattern 03B, Pink Mug Cosy & Pattern 04, Turn Cuff Slipper Socks. Not liking anything here much. The sweater is way too, well, square. It does look better than I would have expected on the model, and I appreciate that Bergère de France is trying to provide dead easy beginner projects here, but garments need shaping and I'd advise beginners to stick to smaller items until they feel they can handle doing at least some shaping. As for the other items, those mug cosies are going to get soggy and stained the first time they're used, and the booties are clumsy and unattractive. I know they're probably on trend, but I'd argue ugly trends should be ignored. There are no Ugg boots in my closet, is what I'm saying.

Pattern 05, Bobble Hat & Pattern 06, Scarf. This is a serviceable enough hat and scarf, though I'd omit the pom pom if it were for a young man, and make both items in better-looking yarn. As I often say in my reviews, one way to make a simple project look like something special is to use a beautiful yarn.

Pattern 07, Blanket & Pattern 08, Slipper Socks with Cuff. Quite like the blanket, which has a crisp, sporty look to it, but the slippers are quite dreadful. I can't imagine any young man of my acquaintance voluntarily wearing them.

Pattern 09, Arm Warmers. These arm warmers aren't bad. They fit well and, thanks to the colourway, are kind of fun.

Pattern 10, Hooded Poncho, Pattern 11, Slipper Socks & Pattern 12, Pouch. Again, with respect to the hooded poncho, Bergère de France has managed to make a square garment look fairly good on this professional model, but this shapeless item is not going to play as well on the average girl or woman in real life. There are better beginner projects than this one. I'm actually not hating the slipper socks, which could mean that Bergère de France is wearing me down dangerously and I'll find myself with Uggs on my feet by the end of this review. The pouch isn't bad though I'd use it for a cell phone case rather than makeup brushes, partly because my makeup brushes are bigger than that, but for the most part because it would promptly become filthy.

Pattern 13, Rectangular Cushion & Pattern 14, Cardigan Look Sweater. The cushion is really basic but okay. I can see it looking pretty good in the right setting. The faux cardigan (it doesn't open in front at all) with its askew-looking collar just looks strange and rather dorky, like something one of the geeky guys in an eighties John Hughes movie would wear.

Pattern 15, Slipper Socks & Pattern 16, Snood. More clumsily constructed slipper socks and a cowl that is kind of cute but is styled as menswear. I don't think too many young guys would be willing to wear this cowl.

Pattern 17, Perfecto Jacket. This is actually a pretty smart-looking jacket.

Pattern 18, Studded Hat, Pattern 19, Tablet Cover & Pattern 20, Studded Slipper Socks. These are all pretty basic, but they'll do. This pair of slipper socks is better constructed than the previous pairs.

Pattern 21, Boat-Neck Sweater. This sweater has nice texture but is so very shapeless. I'd add waist shaping and raise the dropped shoulders.

Pattern 22, Hat, Pattern 23, Travel Blanket & Pattern 24, Boot-Style Slipper Socks. I haven't a fault to pick with any of these. They're very solid basic patterns.

Pattern 25, Large Snood & Pattern 26, Cable-Stitch Arm Warmers. Quite an attractive cowl and fingerless glove set.

Pattern 27, Shawl Collar Sweater, Pattern 28, Slipper Socks & Pattern 29, Messenger Bag. The sweater is actually quite nice, and as we've seen in the previous picture, looks very well when on. I question whether anyone will want to wear shin-high slipper socks, but if they are too high for your liking, you can always shorten them. The messenger bag looks tacked together and cheesy.