Tuesday 2 September 2014

Stag Sweater - Review


I'd like to thank my sponsor Bergere de France for providing the yarn and pattern for this review.

I had not tried any of Bergere de France products before browsing through their two autumn winter 2014/15 collections. Magazine no. 174 features children's items from age 2-12 years and contains 35 new designs. The Creations catalogue has a range of designs for children, adults and the home. Both can be viewed on line.There is also a vast range of yarn types.

I chose the 'Stag Sweater' with a jaquard detail to knit from the collection for children. The pattern has instructions for ages 6-10 years.

Stag Sweater
The yarn recommended for the Stag Sweater design is called 'Ideal'. The catalogue gives very comprehensive details of the yarn and samples of all the colours available. I chose the following colours for my sweater which I knitted in size age 6 years.

Girolle #29051
Gerbille #248661
The #290531
Vannerie #233161

What makes the Bergere de France 'Ideal' yarn?
  • 50g
  • 125m
  • 40% combed wool, 30% acrylic, 30% polyamide
  • 3.5mm needles or 3.5mm crochet hook
  • machine washable, tumble dry
  • 32 colour ways
  • suitable for knitting machines

I found the Ideal yarn very easy to handle and soft to the touch, suitable for children's wear. The pattern was easy to follow, with age sizes colour coded with the different stitch numbers. This was a good feature when checking my work at the different stages. All measurements are in cm and mm, very much based for the European market.

I had to brush up on my intarsia knitting skills for this as there were four colours being worked in the stripes at one time. I made only one change to the pattern. Rather than knit the neck band separate and then graft on to the sweater, I picked up the stitches and knitted the neck band on directly. Overall I enjoyed knitting this little stag sweater.