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Woman Sentenced to Knitting After Road-Rage Incident (Really)

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Road rager sentenced to knitting in Britain.I usually save the fun or strange knitting news for Fridays, but this one is so good I had to post it right away.

I’m not entirely sure I understand the reports coming out of Dundee (that’s in Scotland), but it sounds like Amanda McCabe wasn’t too thrilled with the way Clare Smith was driving, so she followed her in her car for miles, eventually boxing her car in, getting out and hitting Smith on the head.

But McCabe, who admits to hitting Smith, says she wasn’t acting out of road rage, but was only going to the knitting store.

The assault happened near The Knitting Pin, a specialty wool shop, the Telegraph reports.

And because McCabe said she’s a “keen knitter,” instead of being fined for her crime she was asked by the judge to produce knit items to be sold for charity.

Sheriff John Rafferty said she must return in five months with her knitting. He said it should “not be a meagre amount. You have committed a serious offence but you have a chance to do something useful with your time.” Her sentencing has been delayed until December when the judge will, er, judge her knitting.

What do you think of this sentence?

[Photo from Cascade News, via the Telegraph.]

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Comments

  4. It’s in Scotland, not England and we do have different laws to the Scots! Saying that, magistrates or sheriffs in Scotland, can be creative with some sentences! I like it as her fine is in the cost of the wool she will have to buy, but there will be something good at the end of it all.

  5. Regardless of what country this is from, since when is it o.k. to hit someone because you are on your way to a yarn store?? The article I’m reading says it wasn’t a “road rage” thing, she was just going to her yarn store. REALLY? Wow. Never thought of doing that. Going yarn shopping (or looking or for inspiration…..) NEVER has reduced me to acts of physical violence. Interesting….

  6. Haven’t heard about this in UK yet. If it is true, the judge has a sense of humour & is practical.Perhaps she could knit a sweater or a new wig.

  8. I love that Judge! With every stitch, this woman will be reminded that she harmed another human being but is given the opportunity of restorative justice now hopefully with some warm items for the less fortunate for those cold, damp Scotland winters!!

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.