Hi! My name is Ksenia Naidyon, and I am a full-time knitwear designer behind Life Is Cozy.

I was born and raised in Ukraine, where I received a degree in mathematics and worked in the field for many years. During that time, I used to knit and crochet to relax & express my creativity. I even had a small Etsy shop with handknits, mostly scarves and cowls.

We moved to San Francisco in 2015, and our life changed drastically. It only felt natural to finally give my lifelong passion for fiber arts a proper chance. Designing comes instinctively to me. Also, numbers and spreadsheets are my friends and I’m not afraid of grading patterns to numerous sizes thanks to my mathematical background.
So it was decided, and I switched to designing and writing patterns full time.

Knitting to me is a perfect pairing of pure creativity with solid math. It is a magical tool for translating ethereal inspiration into physical objects, and I don’t think it will ever stop to amaze me.

I love incorporating complex textures into my designs and combining them in new unusual ways. Bobbles, nupps, Japanese lace, traveling stitches, and cables are among my favorites. My sweater designs often play with volume - think balloon and bishop sleeves, straight silhouettes, and lots of positive ease. For shawls, I prefer to use just a couple of colors and concentrate on texture and drape. A lot of my designs are named after plants and draw inspiration from nature. I find every aspect of it mesmerizing - from shapes and textures to smells and shadows.

I would say that my patterns are created for adventurous knitters who like to explore different textures and are not afraid of learning a new stitch or two. I produce video tutorials to accompany my patterns to make these discoveries easier.

So here you have me, with knitting needles in my hands at any spare moment, with several bookshelves full of yarn, sketching and swatching, and enjoying (almost) every minute of it – because there’s also lots of spreadsheets, proofreading, answering support emails, and figuring out stubborn design issues.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

You are welcome here - no matter what’s your skill level, race, religion, sexuality, gender, country of origin, age, body, socioeconomic class, disability or ability.

Craft is for everyone.

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