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XRX Attorney Sends Instructions to Stitches Claimants

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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! 

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Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.