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.

He Who Has Many Eyes and other knitting fables

Ewan loved the new ski mask he'd made so much that he wore it everywhere, until the day he wore it into a bank and everyone overreacted. He didn't understand what the fuss was about. As he later disgustedly told his cellmate in holding, sure he'd had a ski mask on and a shotgun in his hand, but as everyone knew, Colorado was both a great place to ski and an open carry state.

During the subsequent trial Ewan got a lot of social media support from many fellow ski mask lovers, which he really appreciated, but also some less welcome overtures from other mask devotees, such as the guy who referred to himself He Who Has Many Eyes. But then, Ewan reflected, when you become a public figure during a fight for justice, there were bound to be some freaks coming out of the woodwork who didn't really understand the cause.

After the trial, Ewan yielded a point and quit wearing his ski masks into banks, liquor and convenience stores, and the like, but he insisted that his two sons continue to wear their sweater and ski mask sets to school. They'd never learn rugged individualism any younger.

Far from being embarrassed by the onset of puberty, Imogene not only embraced and broadcast it but continued to do so long after she was past adolescence.

A serious yardage miscalculation and reckless overuse of yarn at the beginning end of her project led Shea to run out of yarn long before her dress was finished, but she felt that, with the addition of a crocheted modesty panel made from the leftover scraps, the old window sheer she'd had lying around did very nicely for the skirt.

Kesia loved her new meditation suit. The hip pads helped her to sit upright and the detail over her navel area helped her remember to focus her energy on her hara.

Leonora took the next step in her quest to simplify her life when she did away with backpacks by beginning to knit backpacks into all her sweaters. Her next task, she decided, would be to figure out how to do without shoes.

Nyssa wasn't about to compromise her sense of style by wearing knitted caps in cold weather. Wearing knitted wigs with coordinated lipstick was just as warm and much more distingueée.

After his 325th viewing of A Clockwork Orange, Denny put together a Halloween costume to pay tribute to his favourite movie. His friends told him it was very Bauhaus, then directed him into the women's washroom just to be jerks.

Eulalie's new line of gravewear-inspired lingerie didn't seem to be taking off.

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.