Girl Sweater in Bergere de France Calinou - M1165 - Downloadable PDF

Girl's Sweater with Placed Motif in Bergère de France Calinou – Pattern M1165

This knitting pattern, reference M1165, is a charming girl's pullover sweater featuring a placed colourwork motif, designed and published by Bergère de France, a French yarn manufacturer with over 70 years of heritage in yarn production in Lorraine, France. The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated advanced in difficulty, making it a rewarding project for experienced knitters looking to develop their colourwork and shaping skills.

Sizes and Fit

The pattern is sized for girls and covers a range of ages, specifically:

• 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years

Comprehensive schematic measurements are provided for the back/front panel and the sleeve, allowing knitters to select the most appropriate size based on actual body measurements rather than age alone. The finished dimensions are clearly charted in centimetres within the pattern PDF.

What Is Being Made

The finished item is a classic children's pullover sweater — known in French as a pull à motif placé — worked in a combination of stocking stitch and garter stitch, with a distinctive placed colourwork motif as the focal design element. The sweater features set-in sleeves and a shaped neckline, giving it a neat, structured silhouette well suited to everyday wear or special occasions.

Yarn: Bergère de France Calinou

The specified yarn is Bergère de France Calinou, a 4-ply weight yarn manufactured in France. Calinou is a fine, soft yarn ideal for children's garments, offering good stitch definition that showcases colourwork motifs clearly. The pattern calls for four colourways used together to create the multicolour design:

• Bégonia 10051 (Colour A) — the main colour, requiring 3 to 5 balls depending on size
• Bleu nuit 10045 (Colour B) — 1 ball across all sizes
• Chanvre 10027 (Colour C) — 1 ball across all sizes
• Ivoire 10024 (Colour D) — 1 ball across all sizes

The use of exact Bergère de France shade references ensures knitters can source the precise colours used in the original design. Bégonia, a warm coral-red tone, forms the dominant background, while Bleu nuit (navy), Chanvre (a natural hemp tone), and Ivoire (ivory) contribute to the placed motif detailing.

Needles Required

The pattern specifies two needle sizes, both straight or circular knitting needles:

• 3.00 mm needles (no. 3) — used for the main body worked in stocking stitch
• 2.50 mm needles (no. 2.5) — used for the ribbed or garter stitch border sections and finishing details

Using the smaller needle for borders and the larger for the body is a standard technique to ensure the border sections lie flat and have appropriate tension relative to the main fabric.

Stitches and Techniques Used

Garter Stitch (Point Mousse)

Garter stitch is produced by knitting every row on both right and wrong sides. It creates a firm, textured, horizontally ridged fabric that lies flat without curling — making it an excellent choice for borders, hems, and cuffs on children's knitwear. In this pattern, garter stitch sections are worked on the smaller 2.50 mm needles and incorporate colour changes between Ivoire and Bégonia, with the number of rows varying slightly by size to ensure a proportionate border.

Stocking Stitch (Jersey Endroit)

Stocking stitch — knit on right-side rows and purl on wrong-side rows — forms the smooth, classic fabric of the sweater body and sleeves. It is worked on the larger