Meet the designer: Bristol Ivy
Published on September 3, 2026 by Angie
We're shining our craft-room spotlight Bristol Ivy, designer of fashion forward garments and accessories that we can’t wait to knit!
Hello Bristol, thanks for taking some time to chat with us. Tell us a bit about yourself – what makes a knitwear designer tick?
Hi guys! Thank you so much for having me! My name is Bristol Ivy, and I’m a knitting designer from Portland, Maine. I’ve been lucky enough to work in different parts of the knitting industry since 2007, and started publishing designs in 2010. It’s all been downhill since then!
“ The Christchurch Shawl was my first attempt at designing lace. I designed it to mimic the foliage from the Christchurch Botanical Gardens when I visited there." - Bristol Ivy ”
How did you get started knitting?
It’s funny; there were a couple of ways at once. In 2009 to 2010, I spent nine months travelling around New Zealand and working on sheep and fibre farms and facilities through WWOOF, a work-trade organisation. I did a lot of knitting there in my spare time, and much of it was inspired by the gorgeous landscape around me. The Christchurch Shawl, which I self-published was my first attempt at designing lace. I designed it to mimic the foliage from the Christchurch Botanical Gardens when I visited there. I definitely got some weird looks at the hostels and on the bus as I swatched, ripped, scribbled in my notebook, and swatched some more, but it was a great learning process and I’m still really proud of the result.
Downloadable PDF, English
How would you describe your design style?
I like to hope that the lines and shapes are classic and tailored, but when you get closer you see that the constructions and the direction of knitting are a bit unconventional. I like starting garments from new spots: at the side seam, or at the centre back, or at the back neck, for example. I also like finding that sweet spot between easy to wear, interesting to knit, and a bit boundary-expanding and educational. I want people to walk away after knitting one of my patterns feeling more confident and in control of their knitting because they now understand better that you can approach it from a lot of different directions - sometimes literally!
What is your most popular design?
That’s a tough one! For my self-published stuff, Stria, Newsom, and Wainwright are the most popular garments - they’re actually all kind of similar!
We saw you recently launched a wonderful collaborative project with other designers. Tell us more…
Yes! 54 Rue du Chateau is a truly collaborative shawl project that launched a few months ago. The six designers involved - myself, Leila Raabe, Michele Wang, Olga Buraya-Kefelian, Mary-Heather Browne, and Amy Christoffers - each designed twenty rows of a traditional top-down shawl using yarn from A Verb for Keeping Warm. Once those were complete, we handed the shawl off to the next designer and, building on what we’d originally created, they added their own twenty rows. In this way each shawl travelled to each designer, and then travelled back to the original designer who added the final border.
What is your absolute must-have knitting accessory?
Probably a good set of pointy-tipped metal circular needles. I tend to be a slightly tight knitter, so the metal needles are a must for me, and dull tips drive me crazy. Or I’m a total sucker for a good pair of small scissors - I can never have too many!
What do you enjoy knitting for yourself?
I don’t get a lot of time to knit solely for myself - most of my knitting time is devoted to samples. But when I can, I love knitting sweaters and socks for myself. Not even anything complicated - I love plain-jane stockinette socks! I don’t think there’s much better than a cozy pair of hand knit socks.
