Openwork Sweater in Bergere de France Cabourg - 18 - Downloadable PDF

Openwork Sweater in Bergère de France Cabourg – Free Knitting Pattern (Sizes S–XXL)

This free downloadable PDF pattern from Bergère de France provides instructions for knitting a beautiful openwork sweater featuring delicate lace detailing combined with classic stocking stitch construction. Available in five sizes — S, M, L, XL, and XXL — this is an intermediate-level knitting project that produces a lightweight, elegant pullover suitable for a range of seasons and occasions. The lace panels give the garment an airy, feminine quality, while the structured raglan shaping ensures a flattering, well-fitted silhouette.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a raglan-sleeved sweater or jumper worked in DK weight yarn. The design incorporates panels of openwork lace set against a stocking stitch background, creating visual interest and texture without excessive complexity. The raglan construction means the sleeves and body are shaped simultaneously toward the neckline, a technique that produces smooth, diagonal shoulder seams and a comfortable fit across the upper body. A length of herringbone tape is incorporated as a finishing detail, adding a subtle structural or decorative element at the neckline or seams.

Yarn and Materials

• Yarn: Bergère de France Cabourg in shade Nature (245.641), a DK weight yarn
• Yarn quantities: 6 balls for sizes S and M, 7 balls for size L, and 8 balls for sizes XL and XXL
• Needles: 3.5 mm knitting needles
• Notions: 1 metre of herringbone tape, 6 mm wide (reference 418.741, sold in packs of 2 metres)

Cabourg by Bergère de France is a DK weight yarn well suited to garments requiring stitch definition, making it an excellent choice for lace knitting where the yarn-over eyelets and decrease lines need to read clearly against the fabric. Its weight also ensures the finished sweater has a pleasant drape without being too heavy.

Stitches and Techniques Used

Stocking Stitch (St St)

Stocking stitch forms the main body fabric of the sweater. It is worked by knitting all right-side rows and purling all wrong-side rows, creating a smooth, flat fabric on the knit side. In this pattern, stocking stitch is used for the main sections of the garment and also for the border stitches — specifically, the first and last 3 stitches of each row are kept in stocking stitch to frame the lace panels neatly and provide a tidy selvedge edge.

Lace Stitch (Openwork Pattern)

The signature lace stitch is worked over an odd number of stitches using 3.5 mm needles. The pattern is a simple but effective two-row repeat:

• Row 1 (RS): K2, *yfwd, k2tog; repeat from * to end, ending k1
• Row 2 and every WS row: Purl

The yarn forward (yfwd) creates a decorative eyelet hole, while the k2tog (knit two together) decrease immediately following it maintains the stitch count. This combination is the fundamental building block of most eyelet and openwork lace fabrics in knitting. Because every wrong-side row is simply purled, the pattern is very manageable for intermediate knitters who may not yet have extensive lace experience.

Raglan Shaping

The sweater uses a classic raglan decrease sequence worked in a structured series of steps. The raglan shaping is one of the more technically involved aspects of this pattern and is what places it at an intermediate difficulty level. The decrease method is as follows:

• Cast off 2-2-3-3-4 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows to begin the armhole shaping
• Then work a repeating sequence: decrease 1 stitch at each edge on the next RS row