Knitting and planes; can they and do they mix?

[Beboots]

knitting_needle_ninja

I don't think you'll have a problem leaving the country, but I have heard recently of a woman who flew to Europe. She was allowed to bring her knitting to England, but when she flew back to the US, the confiscated her needles, and the half finished afgan attatched to them!

Did you hear about the 80 year old German lady flying home from North America (this was right after the chemical bomb scare and when anything liquid-y, gel-y, or powder-y was being confiscated) and had her medication taken away? She was in a bad way when she arrived in Europe, but was taken to the hospital and ended up fine. I mean, some of the stuff they take away I can understand, but some discretion is needed! Not everyone is a terrorist in disguise! (and honestly, sometimes you almost want to be a terrorist just to get back at them, eh? neutral )  

[knitting_needle_ninja]

I know. They're so stupid about about. A little common sense here, people! If granny has a walker, a hearing aide, and can't read the sign of "prohibbitted items" then that pharmacy she's carrying in her purse probably isn't a chemical weapon!  

[Story From The Stars]

What's really ridiculous is what things they DON'T do in the U.S.
I bought I really gorgeous Porcelain doll when I was in Germany, and because I don't trust the airline people, I took my suitcase with the doll in it, because it was too large too put in either of my carry ons. In Germany I had to have my doll checked for explosives twice before I got on the plane, and I could totally understand it. They didn't treat me like a terrorist, they just did there job and were very polite. And they haven't had any kind of terrorist attacks recently(as far as I know).
When I got into the US, I had to go through customs, and had everything checked and all that. They didn't check my bag! I waited for them to ask and they didn't do anything!!!
They'll take an old ladies medicine, but they don't check a possibly explosive item when a non-threatened country will!!!!
Ugh, the numbers just don't add up on that one...  

[Beboots]

I remember that my dad once told me about a bottle of scotch he'd bought; he had been told (as he'd bought it from the duty-free shops in the airport) that he could bring it on the plane... Only to be told he couldn't because he'd opened it (he'd drunk one shot). They confiscated it, but dad made them pour it down the drain right in front of him. He didn't want them to have simply confiscated it for themselves - the guy looked pretty unhappy while doing it, so apparently dad guessed right. You'll always have the few corrupt bag-checkers...  

[sparklingbutterfly]

you get a self addressed stamped evelope and when they say DPNs are weapons or whatever use waste yarn so you don't loose stitches and put your needles (i would recommend cheapish ones in case they don't make it home) in the envelope lick stick and hand em over then smile cutely and say can you mail these for me or whatever. biggrin and basically when you get to where your going you can probably buy a another cheapish pair to work with! YAY you beat the system of insanity! Because we all know that us Canadian are psycho and like stabbing people with knitting needles! :sarcasm:  

[Brunette_Star]

My fiance is in airport security, and the biggest advice I can give you is triple-check flight regulations and be nice. If you're a nasty passenger, they're more likely to take your needles away from you.  

[Fionamule]

I have never had a problem. just be careful about having metal ones taken away.
and hope that the airline people havent seen halloween lately (for those who are unaware she stabs michael meyers with her knitting needle near the end of the film, its good fun).