Bergere de France

Bergere de France is making quite a splash in North America this fall with its new catalog, written not only in French but also English. In early 2012, they launched the first English language version of their website. Bergere de France has, however, been established in Canada since 1976 in Boucherville, Quebec, using French as the official language.

The company is a family business started in 1946 by Robert Petit and is still operated by his son and grandson. According to its website: . . .it is the last industrial woollen (sic) mill in France to produce hand-knitting yarns. Covering an area of 14 acres and employing around 400 people, it is one of the largest and most advanced mills of its kind in Europe.

The exciting thing about their new catalog is it too has been translated into English and carries in it truly European knitting patterns:

When the last photo of the shawl was posted on Facebook today it garnered plenty of attention; everyone could see themselves wearing it because it is flattering to all figure types.

I asked to have their catalog delivered to me and can say at over 225 pages it is a crafter's dream. The other wonderful thing Bergere does is include small samples of their wool in the catalog. This allows the prospective knitter to feel the yarn and see the actual colours before a purchase is made. Here's what those samples look like:

Real samples of Bergere's yarn

The yarn is in the middle of the catalog so it becomes quite fat

More of the real yarn

And if you haven't had enough, check out this YouTube video to view how Bergere created the photos for the catalog. I'm not sure you have to watch all of this nearly 4 minute video, but you can see getting all the fine photos was no small endeavor. I had hoped to learn more about how they make the real yarn inserts for the catalog, but alas, that didn't make the video.

I've already spent hours looking through this catalog and will continue to do so. The only thing keeping me from purchasing a bunch of these items is my current stash. But I have to say that black shawl is really calling out to me. We'll have to see how long I hold out!

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