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Reclining Knitter Raises Ire, Causes Plane to Be Diverted

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woman escorted off plane after fight with knitterWhen I first saw this story, I thought it was a joke. But, apparently, it happened. A Delta flight from New York headed to West Palm Beach, Florida, made a stop in Jacksonville instead on Monday because of a fight that started over knitting. Sort of.

One woman, whose name is not given but who was described in some reports as an “older woman,” reclined her seat in order to make a little more room for her knitting.

The woman behind her, identified as Amy Fine, was apparently trying to take a nap on her tray table when the seat reclined. Her reaction was yelling and swearing.

According to a report from the guy sitting next to the knitter, when the flight attendant came over Fine said she wanted the plane to land.

Fine was met on the ground by police but not arrested. No word on what happened to the knitter.

Perhaps this is why you should always use circular needles while traveling? (Just kidding.)

Have you ever had a dramatic reaction to your knitting? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo by Joanna Thatcher/ABC News from cell phone video of the woman being taken off the plane.]

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Comments

  3. No reaction to knitting but frankly, I wish they would not allow seats to recline. In this case, someone had their head on the tray (kind of odd), but with a 36″ inseam, I barely fit anyway and if you move your seat, my femur is shoved into my hip bone socket – and it hurts!

Have you read?

Book Review: Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary

Stitch dictionaries are a fun way to learn new-to-you knitting stitch patterns or to take a deep dive into a particular technique. Debbie Tomkies offers 100 cable stitch designs and thoughts on how to incorporate them into projects in her Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary.

Each stitch pattern is shown in a large swatch photo and with written and charted instructions. Any special stitches are included on the page. The stitches are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 3, and the pattern notes also indicate how many extra stitches you should add to a project if you’re going to work this cable (since cables pull the fabric closer together you need to compensate for that) as well as how many stitches and rows are in the repeat if you want to design a project yourself.

The cables are arranged into sections: classic cables, combinations, all-over panels, creative cables, motifs and panels and cabled edges and borders.

It’s fun to flip through the designs to think about projects you can add a single cable or two to or make with an allover cabled design. Or you could make swatches of different cables and sew them together into a pillow cover or a throw.

At the back of the book there’s a section on general cable knitting techniques, reading charts, working swatches and avoiding errors (though it mentions working the wrong number of rows between cable turns, it doesn’t share how to count rows between cables to avoid this mistake).

It also talks about how to design your own cables, combine cables in a project, choose the right yarn and needles and determine how many more stitches you need to cast on when working cables instead of stockinette stitch. There’s also a glossary of symbols and abbreviations you may find in cable knitting and other patterns.

The book provides a good overview of things you can do with cables, as well as some fun things you might not have tried like infinity cables and horizontal cables. It’s a great book for a designer who likes to work with cables or a knitter who wants to play with different stitches in their projects.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback, 100 stitch patterns. Published 2024 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $26.99.