About Us

Hello! I’m Julia Piro [ˈpiro], and I’m a knitwear designer — yep, that one with tutorials for beginners on YouTube. 🙂

I help knitters create their very first real garment — one that fits well and looks good. So good that you’ll proudly say:

“Yes, I made this!” 

I design super-detailed knitting patterns with step-by-step video tutorials. Each guides you from start to finish — as if I were right there beside you, holding your hand.

My mission is to support you — from the moment you’re just getting started to more advanced, beautiful projects, helping you grow with confidence and joy.

I hope to inspire you to pick up your needles and knit with me! 

My Story: From Yarn Leftovers to Knitwear Design

 

2015. Boxes of yarn

I never imagined I’d become a knitwear designer. At the time, I could barely knit.

It all began in Odesa, Ukraine (where I was born and raised) with ... a lot of yarn.

My mom had just closed her online shop selling Italian yarn, leaving behind boxes of leftovers — soft, vibrant, and full of potential. And we had no idea what to do with it.

While my mother could knit (I was always impressed by how even her tension was — it looked like it came off a knitting machine!), I couldn’t knit more than half a scarf.

But I’ve always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

So I teamed up with talented Ukrainian knitters and opened a small Etsy shop. We offered made-to-order garments inspired by internet photos (like the Angora bolero inspired by Kate Middleton’s style). I handled the personalization, shipping prep, and customer care — everything except the knitting itself.

But deep down, I knew:

One day, I want to knit these with my own hands.

 

 

2016. The year I picked up the needles

When chunky yarn took over the knitting world, I gave in. I picked up the needles (35 mm) — clumsily, but bravely. I started with  oversized blankets. Then came sweaters and cardigans. I didn’t follow patterns. I followed my curiosity and trusted my hands.

I scribbled numbers on scraps of paper, made endless mistakes, and unraveled just as often as I knit. Without realizing it, I was learning something deeper than just technique.

I was learning to design.

 

2017-2019.  Life moved — and so did I

I got married and moved to Prague, in the Czech Republic. My knitting side hustle came with me.

Chunky yarns were fading out, so I started experimenting with finer ones — still thick enough to finish a sweater in a few days (YarnArt Alpine Maxi was my go-to), but more refined. I even gave lace knitting a try, just to see… (you can read more about that in this Esenote) but it didn’t quite feel like me.

What I really wanted was to design sweaters that looked stylish, didn’t take forever to knit, and felt totally doable — even for beginners just getting started.

I even gave lace knitting a try, but it didn’t quite feel like me.

 

2020. My First Leap

I launched my pattern brand, Esenique — later known as ESNQ Knit — and began turning my most-loved custom pieces into digital PDFs.

These were patterns for the sweaters and cardigans I had made over the past few years.

Not flashy, not fancy, but simple, wearable, and easy enough for novice knitters. 

Back then, I didn’t even know how to properly proofread a pattern or why running a test knit mattered.

My husband Alex read every word and checked the numbers as best he could. I’m so grateful he was always willing to jump in and help.

 

2021-2022. New Yarn. New Ideas. No Voice

I switched to premium yarns like Crazy Sexy Wool, refreshed the look of my patterns, and started filming YouTube videos — just simple, silent visuals showing the techniques used in my designs.

At the time, my English was still very limited, and I didn’t feel ready to speak.

But the ideas were there, quietly bubbling just beneath the surface.
I just needed the courage to let them out.

 

 

2023. Finding My Voice

Rebecca Page discovered my silent tutorials on YouTube and invited me to film a full knitting class — for the Frosty Sweater. I was still terrified to speak on camera, so I let music do the talking.

But something shifted.

Just a few months later, I gathered the courage to record my very first voice tutorial — for the Halcyon Sweater (ironically, a lace design). I started working with my tech editor, Carol Hladik, and ran my first-ever test knit.

That fall, I released the Mellow Mood Sweater, and it became a bestseller.

Suddenly, I understood: I wasn’t just writing patterns anymore.

I was building something deeper — a bridge between adventurous beginner knitters and garments they never imagined they could make.

 

2024. A Year of Exploration. First Stars

This was the year I dug into shaping and structure:

– The Weekend Glow Sweater introduced compound raglan shaping.
– Daydream Zephyr Sweater invited knitters to explore simple cables and delicate stripes.
– Mellow Mood Top was a lighter version of the original Mellow Mood Sweater — knit in thinner DK yarn and designed to feel approachable and affordable as a first handmade top.
– Drop in Dream sweater — the first design in my Essential Knits series — offered a modern take on the classic drop-shoulder sweater.

And then came First Star — a circular yoke design that helped so many novice knitters create their very first sweater… one that actually looks really good.

I still light up every time someone shares a photo, proud of what they’ve made.
I know that feeling.
I’ve lived that feeling.

 

2025. Still Asking the Same Question

This year has already brought:

• The Artist’s Sweater, designed with simple textures to ease knitters into stitch play.

• Summer Soul Top, my first collaboration with a yarn brand: Hobbii.

• Vivien Top, built around the same question that started it all for me:

What if you could knit something you never thought you could?

This is still the heart of everything I do.
Not just designing garments, but designing confidence. 

Julia Piro ♥️