Episode 009: Bristol Ivy

Bristol Ivy is a freelance knitwear designer living in Portland Maine.  Her work is inspired by playing with the tension between innovation and classic design.  You can find crisp architectural lines alongside soft organic shapes in her garments and accessories.  I’m often struck by her use of texture and shaping to create movement in her pieces.

Bristol used to work behind the scenes for Brooklyn Tweed, doing a variety of jobs from managing wholesale accounts to tech editing, to designing for the Wool People collections.  At the same time, she was working on releasing her own patterns for Quince & Company, Pom Pom Quarterly, Twist Collective, Knitscene, and more.  

She recently embarked out on a new adventure as a full time freelance designer.  I was excited to talk with Bristol about this transition, and how she finds her creative process has shifted now that she’s working for herself.  

We also chat a lot about creativity, slow fashion, the value of fair compensation in the design world, the real deal behind why cats and knitters get along so well, and her obsession with bread baking.

In this Episode:

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We hope your pantry is well stocked with yeast and flour! Here are the recipes for Hokkaido Milk bread and Oatmeal Honey Bread, and check out The King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion and Beard on Bread by James Beard.

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The stack of books by your bed is about to grow! Check out The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and anything and everything by Agatha Christie.

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Want to watch what Bristol is watching? Tune in to The Great British Bake-off, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, The Voice, Project Runway,