Stitches: Exit Stage Left

Two days ago XRX, the parent company of Stitches Events, declared its immediate dissolution and bankruptcy. Shock waves from the announcement are making their way through the entire knitting industry, and many small business — mine included — are deeply affected.

My initial reaction was sadness: with two major California events (Stitches West and Stitches SoCal) now gone, I will miss the opportunities I looked forward to for gathering with the local makers and business owners who are my community in this industry. Then it was dismay: I realized a major part of my teaching income had just disappeared. As more details came to light, I became infuriated. Yarn shops and vendors who put down full advance payment for their booths at four upcoming shows will likely never see any of that money back, teachers will not receive payment for the most recent several shows they already taught at, and students who have paid for classes will not receive refunds.

I’m not an expert in bankruptcy law, but the conversations with others who are more knowledgeable seem to indicate that little, if anything, will ever come back to those who advanced their money and time in good faith.

The effects of this closure on the knitting industry are far-reaching and will likely be felt for years to come as these small businesses scramble to try to recoup their losses and find new revenue streams. I worry that there may be other businesses that fail as a result.

The good news — and there is always good news in the worst of circumstances — is that there are folks out there in the knitting community that are trying to help in whatever ways they can. Many knitters are asking what they can do to help. Knitty is offering free ads to the affected businesses. There is a Facebook Group where you can find links to affected businesses if you’d like to patronize them. Jillian Moreno’s Instagram post has a list of the accounts of affected folks. I know not everyone has extra money to spend right now; some of you likely were affected, too, in the loss of class or registration fees for the upcoming events. But you can still help the affected businesses by giving them a follow, or boost their accounts by liking, sharing, or recommending them to other friends.

If any of you paid in advance for any of my June or July virtual classes through Stitches, please reach out to me via email (deviousknitterATgmailDOTcom) and though I haven’t received any of your money and can’t therefore refund it, I will work with you to see what I can do.

I’ve got a few virtual classes for this weekend and June already set up through my own class portal, and if you’ve been on the fence about taking one this would be a great time for you to do that.

• Ladderback Jacquard · Saturday, May 20: Once you add this technique to your knitting toolbox, you may never want to go back to any other method of carrying floats! The ladderback jacquard technique will improve the tension of your stranded knitting while allowing you to span much larger areas between stitches.

• Straightforward Steps To Self-Publishing Patterns  · Saturday, May 20: So you’ve written a knitting pattern — or you know you want to … now what? In this lecture-style class, we’ll walk step-by-step through the process of preparing your pattern for release and launching it into the world!

• Sock Doc · Saturday, June 3: What if you end up with socks that pinch in, pooch out, sag, bag, or have holes in the wrong places? In this class I’ll share best practices in sock knitting and tackle the most common problems sock knitters encounter. I’ll answer your specific questions about the problems you are having with your handknit socks and share solutions you may not have considered. 

• Brioche Without Breakdowns: Recognize and Fix Your Mistakes · Saturday, June 3: We’ll work from simple fixes to lifelines to complicated brioche “party tricks,” learning the secrets to brioche tinking, frogging, dropping down, and more.

I’m also available to teach directly to knitting guilds and private groups. A full list of my available class topics is here, and you can reach out via email or my Contact form if you’re interested in setting something up.

Finally, I want to express my extraordinary gratitude for all those businesses who are still out there offering me the opportunity to be with all of you, either in person or on Zoom, like Interweave Yarnfest coming up in Milwaukee next week and again in August, Virtual Vogue Knitting Live June 9-11, and the amazing Knit Maine 2023 in-person retreat in Deer Isle, Maine, September 7-10. And those in the San Francisco Bay Area can look forward to Lambtown Oct 7 and 8. With the dissolution of one event, the others that remain feel even more precious. If time and money allow, I hope you’ll consider whether you can attend one of these events.