XRX Attorney Sends Instructions to Stitches Claimants

I’ve been trying to keep you posted when I hear more about XRX, Inc., the company that ran Stitches events, ceasing to exist. To recap: the day after a virtual event, and not long before an in-person event was set to take place, the company added a notice to the Stitches events page saying the company would cease to exist and no longer hold events.

It implied that the company would be filing for bankruptcy, though the letter sent to claimants from the company’s attorney merely says the company “will be dissolved,” which is not necessarily the same thing and doesn’t offer the same protections to people and companies owed money than filing for bankruptcy does.

Some individuals who signed up for events that are not longer happening have reported successfully getting chargebacks from their credit card companies (more on that and some other updates here).

The Screwed by Stitches Facebook group has been made private, but if you join you can find a few people who have shared the letter, dated June 9 and sent by attorney Clair R. Gerry of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In a nutshell, though, the letter says potential creditors have a right to file a claim for any amount they may be owed by the company. In order to do so, they need to submit a claim in writing along with supporting evidence of the amount due.

Such evidence could be “any contract, invoice, billing, statement or other documentation” supporting the claim. Claims must be mailed to the attorney within 120 days of June 9. If statements are not filed on time or to the address indicated in the letter they will be considered void.

The letter notes that if claims that are rejected, claimants will have to “commence legal action” to appeal (which sounds too expensive for most people to want to deal with). It also says they anticipate there will not be sufficient funds to pay all claims, in which case claims will be paid on a pro-rata basis (meaning only a fraction will be paid) and if a person’s pro-rata is less than $10 they will not be paid.

I don’t know if the company will have to file for bankruptcy once the claim period is over, or if it can just dissolve and pay a percentage of claims without officially filing. I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know when there are more updates!

Next Pattern:

Magical Woodland Knits by Clare Garland is a few years old as I write this, but it’s such a fun book I couldn’t resist sharing it. Step into a magical forest full of realistic woodland creatures including rabbit, deer and squirrel, birds and mice, to name a few.

In all there are 12 creatures, and though they are rather small (the wolf is the largest at 14.5 inches/37 cm tall and 18.5 inches/47 cm long), they are so detailed these are definitely not projects for new knitters.

One of the smaller projects, for example, is the robin, at 5/5 inches/14 cm long. It calls for nine different kinds of yarn. Sometimes some are held together, while others are worked with on their own. This pattern only includes three pages of instructions, but the print is rather small and in that time there are six different sets of short rows. None of this makes it too difficult for a knitter with experience reading detailed patterns, working short rows and working with multiple strands of yarn at once, but it’s worth knowing going in that even for small projects you’ll need a lot of supplies and time to work on them.

These are also not meant to be children’s toys, as they can include wires and other supports that could be a danger to little ones.

The process photos often look like taxidermy on a tiny scale, with little animal pelts stretched out and tons of stitch markers showing where and how things go together.

The finished animals are so pretty it’s certainly worth the effort to stitch up these creatures. You might be tempted to make all 12 and set up your own forest scene or use them to decorate your Christmas tree. You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry.

Along the way you’ll also find a little folklore about the animals, charming drawings and pretty photos of the finished animals, too. In the back you’ll find some helpful techniques like picking up stitches, making I-cord and working short rows.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Published 2020 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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