Reminder: Knitting is (Usually) Allowed on Airplanes

A story has been circulating online about a woman who was asked to put away her knitting on a flight by a flight attendant who warned that you wouldn’t want to have knitting in your hands during an emergency on the plane.

I would guess her worry is that you or someone else could get tangled up in the yarn, or somehow injured by the needles, if you were trying to exit the plane quickly?

I think most knitters are aware of where their yarn and needles are when they are knitting on a plane or anywhere else, and usually keep their yarn in a bag so it won’t roll away or get dirty, so no one should be able to get tangled in it.

Also by this argument probably doing anything in a plane (including serving hot beverages) would be a potential danger in case of an emergency.

Frankly I worry about a flight attendant who is that paranoid about potential dangers happening in flight that they would discourage people from entertaining themselves in transit.

But this story does serve as a good reminder that in the United States, knitting needles (and crochet hooks for that matter) are allowed in carry on and checked bags, as are scissors shorter than 4 inches/10 cm from the pivot point. Nail clippers are also allowed, but not yarn cutters that are blades.

A few years ago I looked for every nation’s rules regarding knitting needles on planes that I could find, and they were generally allowed on flights in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Scissors are not allowed in flights in Mexico.

It’s always a good idea to check with your airline just to make sure they allow knitting needles and tools, especially if you are flying internationally. It’s always up to the discretion of TSA agents if your supplies will be allowed. I haven’t traveled by air in many years, but I used to always try to use small needles and keep my knitting in its own bag inside my carry on so the needles wouldn’t be obvious. You can also use interchangeable knitting needles and screw the needles off the cable before going through security so they look less menacing.

What do you think of this story? Do you have any recent tales of traveling with knitting? I’d love to hear them!

[Photo of TikTok video from BrittStitches, via Yahoo]

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.

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