I love crafting for a lot of reasons.
Making things by hand is productive, satisfying, and it’s a great way to soothe the mind.
Whether I’m working on something as simple as arranging flowers, or putting together a large-scale project like this doggie cool-off pad, I always know that crafting will lead to something that’s as useful as it is cute!
Besides, I’m hardly the only one who has noticed how calming it is to pick up a piece of knitting or a DIY scrapbook-in-progress at the end of a long day. There’s something very lulling about a repetitive process that slowly turns into something beautiful.
In fact, I find that when I’m cranky or irritable, nothing picks me up faster than a bit of crafting.
And as it turns out, I’m not the only one who subscribes the mood-booster philosophy of making things by hand. At least one sheriff in Scotland agrees, as we saw when he handed down a very, ahem, creative punishment for a criminal under arrest.
Scroll through the story below to learn more about this crafty sheriff and his fitting sentence.
It all started with a road rage incident in Dundee, Scotland.
Two women were driving on the highway when a third woman, Amanda McCabe, nearly merged into their car.
Furious, they shouted out the window, drawing McCabe's anger.
McCabe, rather than apologizing or simply moving on from the incident, became infuriated.
She tailed the women and boxed them into a parking lot, where she opened the car door and hit the other driver in the face.
Deservedly, she was arrested for the attack and ended up under questioning.
However, her attorney had an unusual defense for her actions.
The claim? McCabe didn't follow the women. She was just on her way to her local knitting store.
According to the lawyer, McCabe is a "keen knitter," and her run-in with her fellow drivers was merely a coincidence en route to crafting bliss.
McCabe freely admits to hitting the other driver, but claims that the act wasn't premeditated, and that she simply lost control when she ran into them again near her destination, a specialty knitting store.
The Dundee sheriff, understandably skeptical upon hearing this excuse, came up with a novel way of testing McCabe's honesty and potentially doing some good at the same time.
Instead of sentencing the angry driver to jail time or community service, the sheriff, John Adams, decided to put her claim to the test.
He decided to postpone her sentencing and the question of jail time, in favor of a more creative solution.
The temporary sentence? McCabe, since she was so fond of knitting, would produce several knitted items in a period of five months.
According to The Courier, Adams mandated, "If you are a skilled knitter, then I am sure that you could produce some goods for charity. You will bring to court several items that you have knitted that you are prepared to donate to a charity shop."
While a specific number of knitted items wasn't decided on, the sheriff did question how quickly McCabe's knitting speeds are, and presumably, he will tailor his requirements to meet her abilities.
McCabe claimed in the court that she could knit a sweater in just a few days.
The ruling states that she'll put her needles to work from now until December, making sweaters, socks, and the like with the proceeds going to charity.
Come December, the Dundee court will revisit the ruling and decide on sentencing.
The five-month probationary period is an opportunity for McCabe to reflect on her actions and behave herself.
We can only hope that all of that time spent methodically piecing together sweaters will gift her with plenty of much-needed patience!
If you love this creative solution to crime, make sure to SHARE with friends who also believe in the curative powers of knitting!
