Today we’d like to introduce you to Larissa Koedyker.
Hi Larissa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
BeCozi was born in the beautiful yet bitter cold of West Michigan in winter 2015. I had to close my adoption consulting business due to changes in US adoption law and war in Ukraine. While looking for a new path in life, I watched a video on Facebook of a girl arm knitting a blanket with super thick Merino wool. As a knitter in the past, I wanted to make a blanket like that myself but had a hard time finding that super chunky Merino wool in the US. So, I found it all the way on the other side of the world and realized that there are likely other people in the US looking to find it. This is how BeCozi was born.
A big ball of Merino wool arrived a few weeks later and practicing Arm knitting, I realized I did not really enjoy the process of Arm knitting. I placed the knitting project on the table and used my hands as needles, and that is how Hand knitting came to be. Hand knitting appeared to be incredibly fun and an easy way to knit using super chunky Merino wool. I loved it so much that I decided to share my new method of knitting with others, and in May 2016, I started the BeCozi YouTube channel.
Little did I know that 8 years after BeCozi’s creation, my company would be shipping the orders to all 50 states and more than 95 countries all over the world. Or that my YouTube channel would have over 250 videos, 165K subscribers, and over 15 million views! In February 2017, I started the first Hand knitting Facebook group – BeCozi Hand Knitting Club, and it quickly grew to be an active group of almost 11,000 fellow chunky knitters. There are multiple Facebook groups on Hand and Chunky knitting copying BeCozi as Hand knitting became one of the most popular trends in US and around the world.
I still love our main product – super chunky 100% Merino sheep wool which originates in Australia. Merino wool is of the finest quality in the world. It is hypoallergenic and regulates your body temperature, keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It is very thick and soft, creating products that have no equal on the market today.
Later, I realized that there could be many other chunky yarns that can be used for hand knitting, so we added several of them to the store: Chunky chenille yarn did not exist on US or world market before BeCozi discovered it and brought it to US craft market in 2016!
BeCozi Chunky chenille yarn is the Registered Trademark yarn, our main yarn to sell and create our newest products and videos:
Super chunky felted Merino wool: this Merino wool was custom created by me: it is super chunky Merino wool processed in a special way, my “know-how” to make it strong and durable and great for everyday use.
Super chunky vegan yarn – great alternatives to wool, vegan yarn is 100% Acrylic and chenille yarn is 100% polyester. It is very soft and gentle to touch.
Jumbo chenille yarn – was custom-made for BeCozi when I created it back in 2017 and is not available anywhere else. Jumbo chenille is almost 1.5 inches thick, and its softness is one of the most loved features by our customers.
Chunky Cotton tube yarn – a cotton tube filled with polyester fiber. Chunky Tube is bulky and durable, perfect for giant knitting projects needing extra strength.
A few latest additions to BeCozi yarns family:
“Plush and Lush” Velvet chunky yarn – super soft and plushy Tube yarn made with velvet fabric with filling inside. It is much softer than cotton Tube yarn, and it is much cheaper too!
“Forever soft” Merino wool – this yarn is perfect for knitting with needles: hats, scarves, sweaters, and cardigans would be amazingly beautiful knitted with this 100% Merino wool.
“Furreal soft” yarn – great addition to knitting with any of our other yarns: making a knitting project looking like real fur but no animals were hurt making this yarn: it is 100% polyester and easy to clean.
I like to share my love of Hand knitting knitting and created a great collection of DIY Knitting Kits for customers to make something special themselves.
All my products are unique, Hand knitted, and custom-made. Every stitch is made with love. I am very passionate about Hand knitting and want to share this passion with the whole world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was not a smooth road, the first a few years were very challenging as I needed to learn how to show my products to the world – Hand knitting was not known before I invented this style – everybody was Arm knitting back in 2015-2016. I needed to learn how to run the website, to advertise and promote new yarns that were not known by regular craft market in US when I just started.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Yes, it was risky to take a leap of faith and start a business not knowing how to really run it. Determination and passion for what I am doing – were my main support
Contact Info:
- Website: becozi.net
- Instagram: Becozi.instagram.com
- Facebook: Becozi.facebook.com
- Youtube: Youtube.com/c/becozi/videos
