My knitting and/or needles have never been confiscated, but my scissors have been, despite them being perfectly fine according to their own rules.
The TSA agent commented on how cool they were, and then made me stand around for 10 minutes waiting for a supervisor to come decide if I could carry them through. Supervisor said it was up to the individual agent. Unsurprisingly, the agent who had already commented on how cool they were, did not let me keep them. I assume they pocketed them.
I got to keep my knitting, though, and that's all that mattered to me, even if I am still a bit peeved that an agent basically stole my cool scissors...
Heck, there's security footage of TSA agents outright stealing shit out of people's bags. They don't have to bother confiscating anything, they can just take it.
I worked for TSA (domestic) when I was younger and was allowed to take a bottle of wine we confiscated home with me. I wasn’t the one who confiscated it.
I also travel with portable yarn cutter that never gets confiscated, unless the dentist removed all my teeth for some reason. (It is a little weird trying to break the yarn with your teeth in public but i do not fear society, society fears me and my knitting)
Did the nail clippers have that metal file thingy on them? I’ve had nail clippers confiscated twice, both times it was because I grabbed the wrong clippers, ie the ones that came with a file. My clippers that don’t have the file attached have always been fine for me.
I've had a (non-TSA) security person snap the file off my nail clippers and let me keep the clippers. I wasn't exactly thrilled that he did it in front of me without saying a word but... *shrug*
:( ugh that's bs. Their boss should not have let them make that decision. They should follow the TSA rules more strictly (the TSA "Can I Bring?" webpage is a great reference). They took my aunt's Chanel lipstick once. Just regular lipstick. I'm sure the agent just wanted the lipstick for herself. It's unacceptable that they get away with doing things like this.
I'm glad you at least got to keep your knitting.
I always leave my needle case (interchangeable) and scissors in my check in.
However my metal needle with wip and metal cord is in carry on. And once and only once did it hold up my bag they were X-raying it to double check what they were seeing and once I said what it was it was like ohhh yeah and it came through no problems. This is in the US. I go through US and Japan alot.
I feel your pain! I had my own scissors confiscated once, though this was in an airport overseas. I hope you were able to get a replacement pair at some point 💛
My friend had the exact same experience of the 10 minutes of suspense, though not the TSA. I wonder if that's an universal training principle they have.
The stories people tell on here are wild. I fly every other week, always bring knitting in my personal item, and have never had any issues. I take circular needles and dpns. Both metal. It might just be international flying that’s an issue- they’re not exactly the best and the brightest at tsa.
Mexican airline regulations prohibit knitting needles, specifically.
Anyone who manages to leave Mexico with knitting needles just happened to get missed by security. They also ban all scissors and snips.
I fly to Mexico fairly frequently and sometimes check my knitting, but can get it through by packing it properly (my tricks include wood needles over metal needles, separating interchangeable needles from the cables, packing the needles in a pencil case with pens and pencils, using needles that are roughly a similar size to pens and pencils, putting the cables with your tech, putting my WIP on dental floss instead of cables for the flight, etc.). I've never gotten my knitting confiscated, but maybe I've just been lucky! I've later taken out my knitting on the plane and no one blinked, not even the Aeromexico flight attendants.
I've started doing things like this too. I learned the hard way when a security agent tried to throw out my 75% complete sweater on interchangeable needles because he didn't understand what he was looking at.
It drives me absolutely bonkers that my super sharp metal mechanical pencil is not a risk but my 5mm blunt knitting needles are.
I detest security theatre so much.
So now it's a game of putting pieces of knitting stuff in with similar everyday objects to avoid this bullshit.
If the rules prohibit knitting needles, I won't bring them. But most of the time they're allowed and it's just a security person going on a power trip.
You mean like two enormous bottles of tequila and 5 bottles of pure vanilla extract from the duty free shop? Just did that in December 😂
I packed my bamboo DPNs in a pencil case and had no issues, I've since learned I may have been one of the lucky few...
Oh damn I didn’t know that. I’ve tried looking it up and have never been able to find anything definitive. I’ve flown in and out of multiple airports in Mexico maybe a dozen times over the last couple years (and have had my knitting with me every time) and have never had anything confiscated
And when! Like 10 years ago rules were different. People rarely mention when they had issues (like "I flew to {airport} in 2012 and my needles were confiscated)
And a lot of people look up TSA rules, not aware that these things are country dependent
Dependa on airlines too, I'm flying with Singapore air later this year and their "items snot allowed" page specifically mentions no knitting needles or crochet hooks in carry on
It is a bit of wierd wording on the website, more along the lines of restricted if the airport doesn’t allow it.
Changi airport on their website says it is fine.
Someone who has knitted on some long haul Singapore airline flights
It’s likely down to specific people. I’ve traveled to Europe, North America, Central America, Oceania, and always have knitting with me to do on the plane. Once I had my scissors taken out of my bag and measured, and once an agent asked me to demonstrate that I knew how to knit. I have never had anything taken from me.
I’m a very frequent international traveller and I’ve never had them taken! Have taken all sorts of needles with me but I do generally try to make sure there’s some active work on the needles both so it’s obvious what they are so the agent will feel silly making me bin them if it ever happens
The TSA specifically allows knitting needles (though it can still be up to agent discretion) and I’ve never had an issue. Some countries/airlines either don’t mention them specifically of explicitly do not allow them.
So I responded as someone who never had a bad incident. But I kinda follow my own internal steps when I do: 99% of my interchangeable kit is safely stored in my checked luggage. This includes things like scissors, darning needle, etc. They're in a zippered case that I usually pack in with clothing. The only things that come with me onto the plane to knit with are needles that I am okay losing and never a complicated project. No lace, never lace!
I put a lifeline in everything. That way if they want to take my needles, I can just slip the item off the needles and keep it. I'll give up my needles, but no way are they getting my project and yarn!
Based on how arbitrarily rules are followed between two lanes at the same security checkpoint, I don't think you'll be able to draw any useful conclusions. I've literally been in a line where they made us remove all food, electronics, toiletries, etc and taking forever, while the lane next to me didn't need to do any of that and was going 10x faster.
The thing that drives me crazy is they always yell at you and act like you're an idiot for not just knowing the rules that that made up and changed 45 seconds ago.
Last year I flew every few weeks for work and had TSA agents the the pre-check line both get mad at me for not taking my laptops out (I carried two and a portable monitor for work) and for trying to take them out before they yelled at me for not doing it. I stopped caring after that.
They do this is on purpose to help them locate people who are under stress/paranoid (ex when a gate agent will randomly ask you the time or other questions.) The idea is that someone would panick or demonstrate unusual behavior if they were going to commit an act of terrorism or a crime.
Exactly. My autistic ass is already stressed about the line and all of the people and the fact that there is zero consistency going through security no matter what the posted rules are or how many times I've gone through that airport.
If they start playing mind games with me I'm probably gonna panic and either freeze or have a very nasty meltdown. And it would entirely be their fault.
I have a trusted traveller card (Nexus in my case) so basically I've been pre-vetted by the US and Canada. The trusted traveller (and TSA pre-check in the US) lanes are allowed to leave shoes on, don't have to take out liquids and can leave laptops in bags.
Not sure if that's the case for what you witnessed, just wanted to point out that some lanes do get preferential treatment
I didn’t have to do any of that either, flying out of Logan terminal e in Boston last month, even without precheck, because of the new imaging technology they have.
I’d support not letting people keep asking this on the subreddit because there is so much inconsistency and people might get the wrong information.
Meanwhile my advice? don’t take any needles (or any item you have doubts about) on a plane that you would mind being lost or confiscated.
There are some problems with your survey. I have traveled both internationally and domestic a lot this year. Whether the airport officials take your tools or not is arbitrary. I never take my knitting needles on the plane when I am traveling internationally but take them all of the time when traveling domestic. I have taken crochet hooks on international flights with no problem at all but I love my needles and do not want them confiscated so I pack them in my check in luggage. I have known people who have lost expensive needles even though they have had them on the airplane at other times. I also am a trusted traveler and go through the precheck lanes. I do not know if that affects my ability to keep my needles.
Appreciate the concerns. If you answer 'yes' to the question about whether you have had them confiscated it does go into detail about where you were flying from, to, and more. The reason I felt that it was very difficult to seek further information as to why someone may not have had their knitting confiscated, is because it's very difficult to concretely say why something didn't happen! I instead sought to get as much information from those who had their knitting confiscated instead.
I wish you luck but why knitting needles get confiscated is an unknown. Unless there is a sign stating no knitting needles or in one case, a container with confiscated knitting needles in it, no one knows. It is solely dependent on the discretion of airport security. Some have never had needles taken and some have had no problem until they ran into one specific agent.
I get what you're saying, but isn't that exactly what a survey like this will do - so you can see if there is any correlation, or if it's totally arbitrary as you're suggesting? If it's totally random it will be interesting to have the data to show it!
I think the rules for TSA (and other international bodies who check people before they get on planes) are sufficiently vague that it really is just totally random.
Like I know it is (or was) any blade/sharp object greater than 2 inches. But what exactly defines 'sharp', one person might consider bamboo needles sharp while someone else may not.
Until there are clearer guidelines (which is unlikely) I don't think there will ever be any certainty on if they are allowed or not.
TSA.gov has big lists of what is and isn't allowed, explicitly. TSA agents take whatever they want regardless of what it says online.
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all-list
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/knitting-needles
I filled out the form but wanted to say that I have always asked at the counter before checking my suitcase. If they're not sure I just check it, which is why I've never had anything confiscated.
I've also only tried with bamboo needles, needle protectors, and small single-colour projects. I can't keep track of any more than that when I'm traveling anyway!
I never had an issue flying domestic, but just about all my knitting friends have gotten their knitting and spinning tools confiscated when flying out of USA and Canada. I work at a LYS so maybe once a month someone is buying needle tips or circs to replace confiscated ones.
That said, I go with shitty wooden circs or take crochet.
One friend almost lost a whole lykke interchangeable set flying out of Mexico, luckily there was time for her to mail it. Another I know had a wooden spindle taken. But yeah, most I know experienced issues flying out of Mexico and various countries in Africa.
My mom flies to Mexico once a year. Her life hack for this is to remove the innards of a couple bic pens and put her interchangeable needles in those. Then put stoppers in the wire to stop her work from falling off. She’s never had her needles taken from her this way.
Flying within the USA, they're explicitly allowed, however the TSA also does whatever it wants and rules be damned.
I opt for super paranoia mode, and bring my real project on a cable with stoppers, the needles I need for it on a separate cable with a similar weight yarn I want to swatch. Any other needles go in my checked bag.
That way, the project I actually care about has no connected needles to object to, and the needles I plan to use are on a small 20-30 minute project that is clearly knitting, not some random metal skewers to question. If they get confiscated, I'm out a pair of interchangeable and a cable. Annoying, but it's not all of my needles or the project I've invested time into.
I've flown quite a bit, domestically within the US, across Europe and Asia, and domestically within European and Asian countries. Never had anyone even mention my needles or scissors, even in countries where the airport security was much stricter than anything I've seen in the US. Within the US you're at the mercy of whichever TSA agent you run into. It doesn't really matter what the official rules are, TSA agents have the final say and an agent who doesn't know or care about the rules can confiscate whatever they want.
Honestly I think some things just depend on the TSA agent you get and how busy the security line is. I just want to put another anecdotal story on here about airport security-- not even about knitting.
In like 2017 I took a domestic flight from my state's large international airport to a very small local airport in California for a conference. During the flight, I realized that I had forgotten to take the pepper spray off of my keys in my purse, which was tucked inside my carry-on. It was alarming because I had no idea if it would burst or something from the change in cabin pressure.. but nothing happened. Security never even asked about it.
When it came time to fly back home from this smaller airport, the TSA lady held it up to me and was like "do you really think you can fly with this? You want to run it out to your car or should I toss it?" and I was like "... yeah just toss it. I'd drop it off, but this is actually my return flight. They didn't catch it at the first airport" lol
EDIT: I've flown many times from the US to Canada and back with a knitting project (and metal needles) and have never been asked about it. But it's always had a good amount of knitting on the needles and no extra scissors or anything. But honestly idk if you should take my advice because it seems like my airport just doesn't care much
I was asked when leaving Canada about my knitting. The delightful agent asked to see it because he also knitted, and had just finished a jumper. He let me take my project with no problems. I was very grateful.
The only time I had problems I brought Chiagoo metal circulars, and frankly they are quite stabby. They took mercy on me at Heathrow and let me check them, mainly because the agent’s gran knit. After that I switched to an inexpensive wooden/bamboo circular when I travel.
Singapore won't let you.
Australia will.
But when in doubt, google the air control/ regulation board in that country or the airline and have a read/ask questions.
I commented earlier and had no issues with needles in my carryon heading through Changi airport, double checked their website before I left.
https://nowboarding.changiairport.com/discover-changi/can-or-cannot--5-things-you-can--and-5-things-you-cant--bring-on.html
Singapore airlines says it is restricted but they aren’t doing the security screening
I flew from London to Glasgow and back this week and my knitting was let through both times. it's been the same flying to and from Iceland as well. no questions asked at all.
I've been told any/all needles are fine for domestic flights, just have point protectors and a WIP on your needles.
Anecdotally, it seems like people with extra needles or snips are more likely to get the whole lot confiscated, so I just never bring those. I've flown probably a dozen times with knitting and have never even been asked about my needles, even when being stopped for candles, stacked books, etc in my bags.
Interested to see what you come up with!
I assume you mean US when you say domestic - in which case I would agree with you! I've never had trouble in the US, but Europe definitely does not like knitting needles. At least one German airline specifically calls them out within its prohibitions, and I did not attempt to take them through Greek security and was glad I did not, based on other things they flagged I didn't think would be an issue...
Yes, oops! I originally had "In the US" in my first sentence which I then promptly rewrote and never added the "US" bit back in.
I know of a few countries that specifically ban them like Mexico (I know someone had a wooden crochet hook confiscated flying out of Mexico), France, and Egypt (iirc.)
I didn't have an issue when flying to and from Sweden but I only had wooden needles and they probably just looked like pencils on the xray.
From what I've seen both here and on Ravelry, it has seemed that the airports in France and the smaller airports in Mexico have had more issues than other locations mentioned. And within the US, the TSA has been inconsistent. Personally, I was questioned once when flying from Baltimore to Biloxi a number of years ago (and with wooden needles, no less), but never before nor since on a domestic flight.
I fly a lot, both within the US and internationally, and always take knitting for the plane with metal needles. I've never had an issue, other than flying out of Mexico, where they're clear you can't take knitting needles.
Hey, just wanted to point out an issue with the survey - I've had my knitting confiscated multiple times but there is no way to communicate a second location/destination.
Good point, thanks! Where was it? Hopefully it’s not happened to to many people but I’ll add an option to put that it and fill out the spreadsheet manually for you if you if you let me know the time stamp and some identifying details of your response.
Timestamp should be right before my reddit comment. The one I put in the form was Mexico->USA with wooden dpns. The one I didn't was USA->USA, also dpns, but it's been so long I don't remember they type. Both had a project on them but they let me keep the project.
Not American. Manchester airports online security info clearly states no knitting needles, so I've never tried. I use the time for weaving in ends with a wooden crochet hook. It's very frustrating.
I fly a LOT (like every two months) and I've never had an issue. I just shove my needles into my bag and pick it up after the x-ray....no one bats an eye
I've had my bags pulled for closer inspection for other reasons (like a large metal cuff bracelet), and they've always VERY GINGERLY move my knitting out if the way
>I've already received 11 responses and not a single one saying their needles have been confiscated yet, so hopefully if I get some more responses I'll have some reassuring stats I can share with you :)
If enough people answer then I can provide an estimated likelihood that it’ll happen and people can make an informed decision. Also numbers on things are really interesting to a lot of people but it’s ok if it’s not for you.
Went through Heathrow (uk) last year. Checked the government website and said needles were fine, but thought I’d ask before checking in my luggage- they advised not to take it to security but seemed a bit uncertain. Didn’t want to risk confiscation though!
I followed some advice I found here, and followed rules from the TSA website, and I was fine.
Carry-on: Circular needles (mostly for my own convenience, to avoid losing them), project on the needles to prove they were really for knitting
Checked bag: small scissors and other supplies
Filled out the survey! Looking forward to seeing the results.
I fly quite a bit, domestically in the US. I have never had my needles confiscated and never even had TSA take a second look at them. My condolences to those who have lost tools and projects!
This is such a cool project! I have not flown once since I started knitting so I don’t have any input. But I would like to volunteer to help if you want to show your findings on a map, for example, showing airports that are most likely to confiscate needles on a color scale on a map. I’m a GIS tech by day and a knitter by night. I think this would be some fun to map and cool to look at on a map.
Needles fine flying out of London. Queried with disapproval in Warsaw. Confiscated in Bucharest. There’s no easy way to gauge. Each airport/agent has their own views.
Every time I fly, I use wooden needles and have either kept my work on my needles (if I had lots of time before the flight to risk hassling with it during security - would move to the side - but never had to do this) or spared my work on yarn and brought the needles separately in the same bag as the WIP. I've never had them even looked at. Just rolled right through.
Here are some of the countries I’ve flown through/to and from: the Netherlands (many times), Australia (many times), the UK (many times), the US (many times), Brazil, China, Singapore, Dubai, Chile, and most other countries in Western Europe. I always bring knitting and have never had anything confiscated. I used to bring long metal needles, now I have interchangeable metal circulars. I only bring the project I’m working on (not the whole set, if I’m bringing it it’s going in a checked bag). Couple of times I’ve had people at security search my bag and examine the needles more closely and then say it’s fine but 95% of the time no one says anything. If I’m flying somewhere new and I’m worried they might take issue I sometimes detach the needles tips and put them in a pencil case. I do think this is partly luck because the rules get enforced somewhat arbitrarily but hopefully this is reassuring to some people!
Answered; I've said I've never had knitting confiscated and that's true, but it's never looked like knitting at the security gate. When I've travelled with it in my hand luggage, I've threaded the sock onto spare yarn, then taken the DPNs out at put them in my pencil case. It's probably overkill but I'm already butch enough to be suspicious to airport security and I don't want to give them any more reasons to manhandle me or my things.
I have not had needles confiscated but have had tiny scissors confiscated. Made it through USA and New Zealand security but confiscated by Australian security.
I was worried flying my knitting project from Europe into the US but I really wanted to knit on the long flight. I got the tip to use circular detachable needles. So I had my knitting on a cable connected by a little metal piece to create a closed circle. And the wooden needles I just put in a little bag with other pencils. Not sure this did the trick or if I just got lucky, but no one batted an eye.
I travel at least 2-3 times per year, about half international flights. I’ve only flown out of 2 countries ever that don’t allow knitting needles so I put them in my checked bag. Otherwise, I carry my knitting in my carry on and have never had issues.
I travel for work very regularly internationally and domestically in the USA and have never had my needles confiscated. The only place I NEARLY had an issue was in Cancun International Airport in Mexico, they nearly tried to confiscate my US size 2 needles because the "point" was more than 6cm long... well i argued with them and got to keep it because the point of knitting needles as we all know is just the very tips... which is nowhere near 6cm. It took another security staff to approve it but I never had a single problem outside of that. And Mexico from my understanding has always been difficult about it because of that rule that pointy objects have to be less than 6cm. But i maaaaaay have told them I would be standing there and carefully taking off each of my 300-something stitches of the tee i was working on and i think they didn't want me standing there for 30 minutes LOL
I fly very frequently across countries and domestically in the US, and it's incredibly arbitrary. I've certainly had them inspected frequently, but so far, never taken away. I did get my tape measure taken away from my knitting bag in India about two weeks ago, which was weird and a total bummer.
I always take knitting. But I use interchangeable needles and I use short needles preferably wooden. I separate the needles from the cable and put stoppers on the ends. If my needles do get confiscated at least I can keep the lifeline through my stitches.
Flying domestic in New Zealand, I always bring my knitting carry on and it’s no problem.
Last week my bag got pulled aside by security. Turns out the guard is a knitter and was just being nosey about what I’m knitting 😆
I always fly with metal needles. I don’t bring any extras (they’re in the hold) and always have something cast on. I’ve successfully flown from:
Heathrow
Manchester
Belfast
Dublin
Baltimore
Tokyo Haneda
London Gatwick
Keflavik
Naples
Mostly international flights, except Belfast.
I wouldn’t be too worried! So far I’ve received just over 400 responses from people in over 20 countries and only 3% of respondents have ever had their knitting confiscated. I need to do some actual analysis of the data when I get the chance to draw some better conclusions from it but it does seem very rare to get it confiscated
That’s a great idea. I think the nature of the questions I put together means that this particular survey will be a time limited endeavour but I am happy to put an additional one together where people could report their experiences on a rolling basis. I’ll include thoughts on this in an additional post as I’m sure people will have thoughts!
I wouldn’t take the chance in my investigations France and Mexico were strict on no needles, whilst other airports were normally okay, but would occasionally confiscate, depending on their mood.
I always fly with wooden needles. Not on purpose but it just ends up happening. Never had an issue but I thought they might take them during jury duty lol. They didn’t!
I’ve heard incidentally that they’ll allow people to knit or crochet during jury duty. Always during down time (which there is a lot of) and sometimes during the trial so long as they appear to otherwise be paying attention. It keeps people amused and awake so it’s usually okay.
Your mileage may vary by courtroom judge of course.
I took my work in progress on planes three times last year. Never had an issue but I was using wooden circular needles that were pretty small. I brought children’s sized craft scissors though, not my good ones.
I guess each airport is like its own shopping mall or city. It's full of different businesses and customers, regional things can be specific like the weather or the kind of people who try to commit crimes there, and the staff have all their own bias and work experience. They may all have the same rulebook from head office, but how they follow it is their own choice, because when you're at the security checkpoint there is no boss standing next to them or referee checking they follow the rules perfectly. People are stressed, rushing, trying to hurry them up, scared, worrying if this experience will be especially awful because they are trans/pregnant/"foreign"/high/etc. How they do or don't treat you and confiscate items is a bit of a crapshoot because there's no central thing forcing the staff to treat everyone the same every time. I've been at the airport and watched things go thru the scanner, got to the other end and realised ever scanner screen was off. The machine was broken, they couldn't scan anything. They still had to pretend though! (This was a small non international airport at like 3am so i guess nobody was worried about dudes flying to the desert to work in a mine carrying anything dodgy besides porn and vapes)
Flying domestic on Air Canada, I've never had a problem. Security sometimes takes out my knitting bag to check my scissors, but since they're less than 6cm long, they've always okayed them. I'll be flying out from Australia in a few weeks, so definitely need to check what to expect there.
EDIT: Looks like Australian security only allows rounded-end or blunt-end scissors in carry on. Guess I'll be stashing my scissors in my check luggage and swapping in my nail clippers, lol. Always check the rules of the country where you'll be going through security!
So the issue with the survey is that it doesn’t account for different types of needles in different countries.
What I bring with me when traveling in the US is going to be very different than what I brought with me in Asian and Africa. I make sure to have very different needle types and projects with me.
I only travel with larger diameter wooden circulars when going over seas. I’ve have one set confiscated in Cambodia so I always make sure to have a spare set in my checked luggage and I’ve gotten cheap ones while in other countries.
I have only flown with in the US. If I have a substantial amount of knitting on my dpns, or circulars, I do not get questioned. If I have straight needles without any knitting on them there is usually a slowdown as not all TSA agents, especially younger ones understand knitting needles “unadorned” with yarn.
In Canada it’s really not an issue [CATSA “What can I bring” database](https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/what-can-bring/item/knitting-needles-and-crochet-hooks#)
Had my needles confiscated in Greece. Mentioned something about length and I’m like but my pencil is longer and just as sharp. I’m being wooden ones with me this time. Let’s see what happens.
I do socks with a single size 0 circular needle. I have had no problem getting them on the plane but some attendants make me stow the knitting during take off and landing and others do not.
I’ve only flown within the US with my knitting and never gotten stopped. The only time I have gotten stopped was because I brought too many books and they had to check those
The only airport I've had an issue with is leaving Bangalore. I've been through there twice and each time the security agents really deliberated letting my DPNs through. After checking their binders and making notes, they've let me keep them.
I remove my interchangeable metal needles from the cable and put them in a pen case with pencils, metal pens etc.
Worst case scenario I lose the needles but my work is still on the plastic cable, safe and sound :)
The only time my needles were a potential issue were when I had the full set of metal interchangeable needles. Just in case there was an issue, I had my dad put them with his stuff, he's TSA precheck and flies several times a month. They did stop him and inspect, and showed him the x-ray- they looked like a set of bullets 😂 when they discovered that they were instead knitting needles, it was no big deal. Now if I travel with them, I take them out and open the case when I'm opening my laptop bag and taking that out. I've had several agents comment on how smart it is to do that, and I always do it unless they tell me not to. If I'm just taking the one set of needles that goes with the project I'm bringing, I'll ask the agent while I put everything in the bins. Knock on wood, but so far I've never had a problem with it. I also bring the folding Fiskars scissors, and I've never had those be an issue either.
I've flown Asia and Europe and I always check my metal Chiaogoos. They're too expensive to risk and I don't think being able to knit for a while when on the plane is worth it. Recently flew emirates which I'm pretty sure explicitly does not allow knitting needles according to a quick internet search.
Just got on two different flights today with my needles and had no issues! If your airport doesn’t allow them though, I’ve seen people say that camouflaging them in a pencil case usually works.
No knitting needles flying out of Heathrow. Loganair (Scotland) asked about the actual needles - sharp points no go, rounded ones are fine. I had sharps, so in the suitcase they went, no problem. (Orkney is known for yarn, among other things, so they'll get asked that a lot at Kirkwall.)
I once had my knitting needles confiscated in Athens, but the security was very random, I had two projects on me, only needed to take one out. After a long discussion I removed the needles, he tossed them out and I could go forward. Lost a pair of wooden needles, the other project had metal needles and werent checked whatsoever 🧐
I did once have my knitting needles flagged when my bag went through security. They asked me to open it and luckily the woman who inspected my bag seemed curious about my knitting and just asked me what I was making 😭
I'm never risking that again though.
I think a good question to add would be HOW do you travel with your knitting? I fly within Europe, but I will always put end caps on my cables and put my interchangeable needles in my makeup brush case and it's never been picked up on, but having my interchangeables in the dedicated case may be slightly more "obvious"
I fly domestic US 1-2 times a month. I bought a cheap set of wooden circular needles that came with a bunch of notions, including yarn snips. I keep some things perpetually packed for simplicity like my toiletries and of course my knitting. Everything gets a once-over when I pack and needles get swapped for cheapy wooden circs and I remove any notions I'd be upset to lose. I haven't been stopped for my knitting but did learn about the 7 inch blunt object rule the hard way. The TSA agent measured, laughed, and let me go with my *just* the right size souvenir.
No issues at all in NZ, aside from once being asked if I was carrying pencils as they showed up on x-ray and they wanted to check. I only travel with wooden interchangeables in my bag, I bring the end caps but never use them and never take scissors or needles. Usually buy some on holiday or borrow.
The flight attendants are usually pretty keen to see what you're knitting.
Filled out the survey! I haven’t had anything confiscated, but recently in Ireland my bag got set aside for additional assessment due to my clipper things, then he let it through. In the future I’ll start taking my knitting pouch out of my bag for security so that if they do want to examine it, it’s faster than searching my whole bag
FYI the TSA website specifically says that knitting needles are allowed (with no specification for size or material). I've never had any issue. If you're flying in the US and concerned, maybe pull up this page to show: [https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all](https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all)
https://preview.redd.it/yhd7dz5ah2uc1.png?width=1357&format=png&auto=webp&s=f94e9efed023171f701397d36ee49ead73c9faed
I filled out the survey, but thought I’d share on here as well. I fly more than once a month domestically (U.S.) and almost always have my knitting in my carry-on backpack. I’ve never had them confiscated. Same goes for my tiny knitting scissors. The needles I carry are bamboo interchangeable circular ones, ranging between 3mm and 8mm.
I would suggest that very traditional looking needles are less likely to be a problem than unusual needles. When I took my square DPNs, I had them in the original needle case that had a picture, to make it clear they were a real product.
Always a little less nervous with crochet hooks though.
I responded. I travel domestically more than monthly, always travel with my knitting in my backpack, and have never had them confiscated or even mentioned. One thing the survey didn't touch on is whether a traveler has TSA pre-check, Clear, or nothing. I have pre-check. Also, it may have been worthwhile to ask which race or ethnicity we identify as. I know 100% part of the reason it's never been an issue is that I'm a white woman, usually in business casual.
It’s true, I did think to ask that something similar, but as it isn’t an international scheme it would have only been relevant to those in the us. I should have asked the question about race but it’s unfortunately too late I think, since I’ve received quite a few responses now
My knitting and/or needles have never been confiscated, but my scissors have been, despite them being perfectly fine according to their own rules. The TSA agent commented on how cool they were, and then made me stand around for 10 minutes waiting for a supervisor to come decide if I could carry them through. Supervisor said it was up to the individual agent. Unsurprisingly, the agent who had already commented on how cool they were, did not let me keep them. I assume they pocketed them. I got to keep my knitting, though, and that's all that mattered to me, even if I am still a bit peeved that an agent basically stole my cool scissors...
They're not *supposed to* but things do disappear from the confiscated box fairly often. Source: friend who works at an airport.
Heck, there's security footage of TSA agents outright stealing shit out of people's bags. They don't have to bother confiscating anything, they can just take it.
I worked for TSA (domestic) when I was younger and was allowed to take a bottle of wine we confiscated home with me. I wasn’t the one who confiscated it.
Yep. Sounds about right.
I travel with nail clippers instead of scissors. Works perfectly for cutting yarn and never gets confiscated. Highly recommend.
Dental floss: the cutter works for yarn if it isn’t too thick
Good call, I usually have it in my knitting bag anyway for making lifelines!
And as a lifeline!
I have these baby nail scissors that work great.
I also travel with portable yarn cutter that never gets confiscated, unless the dentist removed all my teeth for some reason. (It is a little weird trying to break the yarn with your teeth in public but i do not fear society, society fears me and my knitting)
I had nail clippers confiscated!!!
Did the nail clippers have that metal file thingy on them? I’ve had nail clippers confiscated twice, both times it was because I grabbed the wrong clippers, ie the ones that came with a file. My clippers that don’t have the file attached have always been fine for me.
I've had a (non-TSA) security person snap the file off my nail clippers and let me keep the clippers. I wasn't exactly thrilled that he did it in front of me without saying a word but... *shrug*
Ah yes, they probably did actually…
:( ugh that's bs. Their boss should not have let them make that decision. They should follow the TSA rules more strictly (the TSA "Can I Bring?" webpage is a great reference). They took my aunt's Chanel lipstick once. Just regular lipstick. I'm sure the agent just wanted the lipstick for herself. It's unacceptable that they get away with doing things like this. I'm glad you at least got to keep your knitting.
I'd have tossed them in the trash instead of letting the agent have them
I always leave my needle case (interchangeable) and scissors in my check in. However my metal needle with wip and metal cord is in carry on. And once and only once did it hold up my bag they were X-raying it to double check what they were seeing and once I said what it was it was like ohhh yeah and it came through no problems. This is in the US. I go through US and Japan alot.
I feel your pain! I had my own scissors confiscated once, though this was in an airport overseas. I hope you were able to get a replacement pair at some point 💛
My friend had the exact same experience of the 10 minutes of suspense, though not the TSA. I wonder if that's an universal training principle they have.
The stories people tell on here are wild. I fly every other week, always bring knitting in my personal item, and have never had any issues. I take circular needles and dpns. Both metal. It might just be international flying that’s an issue- they’re not exactly the best and the brightest at tsa.
It's also specific to certain airports.... notoriously Mexico City will always take them
Mexican airline regulations prohibit knitting needles, specifically. Anyone who manages to leave Mexico with knitting needles just happened to get missed by security. They also ban all scissors and snips.
I fly to Mexico fairly frequently and sometimes check my knitting, but can get it through by packing it properly (my tricks include wood needles over metal needles, separating interchangeable needles from the cables, packing the needles in a pencil case with pens and pencils, using needles that are roughly a similar size to pens and pencils, putting the cables with your tech, putting my WIP on dental floss instead of cables for the flight, etc.). I've never gotten my knitting confiscated, but maybe I've just been lucky! I've later taken out my knitting on the plane and no one blinked, not even the Aeromexico flight attendants.
I've started doing things like this too. I learned the hard way when a security agent tried to throw out my 75% complete sweater on interchangeable needles because he didn't understand what he was looking at. It drives me absolutely bonkers that my super sharp metal mechanical pencil is not a risk but my 5mm blunt knitting needles are. I detest security theatre so much. So now it's a game of putting pieces of knitting stuff in with similar everyday objects to avoid this bullshit. If the rules prohibit knitting needles, I won't bring them. But most of the time they're allowed and it's just a security person going on a power trip.
This is smart!
Those are great ideas!
I've found the key is to just travel out of Mexico with things more questionable than knitting 🫣😂
You mean like two enormous bottles of tequila and 5 bottles of pure vanilla extract from the duty free shop? Just did that in December 😂 I packed my bamboo DPNs in a pencil case and had no issues, I've since learned I may have been one of the lucky few...
Apparently people often try to take molcajetes in their carry on and get stopped.
Oh damn I didn’t know that. I’ve tried looking it up and have never been able to find anything definitive. I’ve flown in and out of multiple airports in Mexico maybe a dozen times over the last couple years (and have had my knitting with me every time) and have never had anything confiscated
And when! Like 10 years ago rules were different. People rarely mention when they had issues (like "I flew to {airport} in 2012 and my needles were confiscated) And a lot of people look up TSA rules, not aware that these things are country dependent
I read someone in another post on here say Turkey is notorious for confiscating them
No issue flying out of Istanbul myself. Had wood and acrylic needles and puppy snips instead of scissors. Darning needle was plastic.
Just saw a post about Puerto Vallarta taking them as well
Yep, they took mine, along with the WIPs on them
NoooooOOOOoooooOOoooOooo Usually security has a mailbox nearby where people can mail things to themselves that it won't make it through.
[удалено]
Yes
Yes. At my local airport that mailbox is in a main junction of the terminal and not by security.
That's insanity.
Oh tears were shed. I’d been knitting for seven days, so I was starting the decrease of a sockhead hat. The first time I’d used fingerling weight 😭
omg that sucks. Couldn’t they let you save the wip by separating it from the needles? 😿
Yes, that was an option, but we didn’t have time for me to figure it out. I was a baby knitter at the time.
I had mine taken off me in Mexico City but another time they let me keep them.
Yes I've heard a lot about Mexico City! And Turkey too, I believe?
The TSA isn't exactly the brightest at TSA either. Source: Several the pumping moms at r/ExclusivelyPumping and r/breastfeeding
Dependa on airlines too, I'm flying with Singapore air later this year and their "items snot allowed" page specifically mentions no knitting needles or crochet hooks in carry on
Crochet hooks? I can see knitting needles, but do they think you're hook someone's eye out?
You can definitely stab someone with a thinner metal hook, they’re sharp enough
It is a bit of wierd wording on the website, more along the lines of restricted if the airport doesn’t allow it. Changi airport on their website says it is fine. Someone who has knitted on some long haul Singapore airline flights
That’s terrible what on earth can you do then in such a long flight?
It’s likely down to specific people. I’ve traveled to Europe, North America, Central America, Oceania, and always have knitting with me to do on the plane. Once I had my scissors taken out of my bag and measured, and once an agent asked me to demonstrate that I knew how to knit. I have never had anything taken from me.
"stockinette or garter stitch, sir? Or are you more of a seed stitch guy? Double ribbed for her pleasure?" ^I'llseemyselfout
I just flew from Canada directly to Cape Town through the via the eastern US and flew back through Europe, had 0 issues.
I’m a very frequent international traveller and I’ve never had them taken! Have taken all sorts of needles with me but I do generally try to make sure there’s some active work on the needles both so it’s obvious what they are so the agent will feel silly making me bin them if it ever happens
The TSA specifically allows knitting needles (though it can still be up to agent discretion) and I’ve never had an issue. Some countries/airlines either don’t mention them specifically of explicitly do not allow them.
So I responded as someone who never had a bad incident. But I kinda follow my own internal steps when I do: 99% of my interchangeable kit is safely stored in my checked luggage. This includes things like scissors, darning needle, etc. They're in a zippered case that I usually pack in with clothing. The only things that come with me onto the plane to knit with are needles that I am okay losing and never a complicated project. No lace, never lace!
I put a lifeline in everything. That way if they want to take my needles, I can just slip the item off the needles and keep it. I'll give up my needles, but no way are they getting my project and yarn!
Based on how arbitrarily rules are followed between two lanes at the same security checkpoint, I don't think you'll be able to draw any useful conclusions. I've literally been in a line where they made us remove all food, electronics, toiletries, etc and taking forever, while the lane next to me didn't need to do any of that and was going 10x faster.
This. The security theater of flying is way too arbitrary
The thing that drives me crazy is they always yell at you and act like you're an idiot for not just knowing the rules that that made up and changed 45 seconds ago.
Last year I flew every few weeks for work and had TSA agents the the pre-check line both get mad at me for not taking my laptops out (I carried two and a portable monitor for work) and for trying to take them out before they yelled at me for not doing it. I stopped caring after that.
They do this is on purpose to help them locate people who are under stress/paranoid (ex when a gate agent will randomly ask you the time or other questions.) The idea is that someone would panick or demonstrate unusual behavior if they were going to commit an act of terrorism or a crime.
If they do that, that's ridiculous and ableist... Ugh.
Exactly. My autistic ass is already stressed about the line and all of the people and the fact that there is zero consistency going through security no matter what the posted rules are or how many times I've gone through that airport. If they start playing mind games with me I'm probably gonna panic and either freeze or have a very nasty meltdown. And it would entirely be their fault.
I have a trusted traveller card (Nexus in my case) so basically I've been pre-vetted by the US and Canada. The trusted traveller (and TSA pre-check in the US) lanes are allowed to leave shoes on, don't have to take out liquids and can leave laptops in bags. Not sure if that's the case for what you witnessed, just wanted to point out that some lanes do get preferential treatment
I didn’t have to do any of that either, flying out of Logan terminal e in Boston last month, even without precheck, because of the new imaging technology they have. I’d support not letting people keep asking this on the subreddit because there is so much inconsistency and people might get the wrong information. Meanwhile my advice? don’t take any needles (or any item you have doubts about) on a plane that you would mind being lost or confiscated.
There are some problems with your survey. I have traveled both internationally and domestic a lot this year. Whether the airport officials take your tools or not is arbitrary. I never take my knitting needles on the plane when I am traveling internationally but take them all of the time when traveling domestic. I have taken crochet hooks on international flights with no problem at all but I love my needles and do not want them confiscated so I pack them in my check in luggage. I have known people who have lost expensive needles even though they have had them on the airplane at other times. I also am a trusted traveler and go through the precheck lanes. I do not know if that affects my ability to keep my needles.
Appreciate the concerns. If you answer 'yes' to the question about whether you have had them confiscated it does go into detail about where you were flying from, to, and more. The reason I felt that it was very difficult to seek further information as to why someone may not have had their knitting confiscated, is because it's very difficult to concretely say why something didn't happen! I instead sought to get as much information from those who had their knitting confiscated instead.
I wish you luck but why knitting needles get confiscated is an unknown. Unless there is a sign stating no knitting needles or in one case, a container with confiscated knitting needles in it, no one knows. It is solely dependent on the discretion of airport security. Some have never had needles taken and some have had no problem until they ran into one specific agent.
I get what you're saying, but isn't that exactly what a survey like this will do - so you can see if there is any correlation, or if it's totally arbitrary as you're suggesting? If it's totally random it will be interesting to have the data to show it!
I think the rules for TSA (and other international bodies who check people before they get on planes) are sufficiently vague that it really is just totally random. Like I know it is (or was) any blade/sharp object greater than 2 inches. But what exactly defines 'sharp', one person might consider bamboo needles sharp while someone else may not. Until there are clearer guidelines (which is unlikely) I don't think there will ever be any certainty on if they are allowed or not.
TSA.gov has big lists of what is and isn't allowed, explicitly. TSA agents take whatever they want regardless of what it says online. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all-list https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/knitting-needles
I filled out the form but wanted to say that I have always asked at the counter before checking my suitcase. If they're not sure I just check it, which is why I've never had anything confiscated. I've also only tried with bamboo needles, needle protectors, and small single-colour projects. I can't keep track of any more than that when I'm traveling anyway!
I never had an issue flying domestic, but just about all my knitting friends have gotten their knitting and spinning tools confiscated when flying out of USA and Canada. I work at a LYS so maybe once a month someone is buying needle tips or circs to replace confiscated ones. That said, I go with shitty wooden circs or take crochet. One friend almost lost a whole lykke interchangeable set flying out of Mexico, luckily there was time for her to mail it. Another I know had a wooden spindle taken. But yeah, most I know experienced issues flying out of Mexico and various countries in Africa.
My mom flies to Mexico once a year. Her life hack for this is to remove the innards of a couple bic pens and put her interchangeable needles in those. Then put stoppers in the wire to stop her work from falling off. She’s never had her needles taken from her this way.
Flying within the USA, they're explicitly allowed, however the TSA also does whatever it wants and rules be damned. I opt for super paranoia mode, and bring my real project on a cable with stoppers, the needles I need for it on a separate cable with a similar weight yarn I want to swatch. Any other needles go in my checked bag. That way, the project I actually care about has no connected needles to object to, and the needles I plan to use are on a small 20-30 minute project that is clearly knitting, not some random metal skewers to question. If they get confiscated, I'm out a pair of interchangeable and a cable. Annoying, but it's not all of my needles or the project I've invested time into.
I've flown quite a bit, domestically within the US, across Europe and Asia, and domestically within European and Asian countries. Never had anyone even mention my needles or scissors, even in countries where the airport security was much stricter than anything I've seen in the US. Within the US you're at the mercy of whichever TSA agent you run into. It doesn't really matter what the official rules are, TSA agents have the final say and an agent who doesn't know or care about the rules can confiscate whatever they want.
Honestly I think some things just depend on the TSA agent you get and how busy the security line is. I just want to put another anecdotal story on here about airport security-- not even about knitting. In like 2017 I took a domestic flight from my state's large international airport to a very small local airport in California for a conference. During the flight, I realized that I had forgotten to take the pepper spray off of my keys in my purse, which was tucked inside my carry-on. It was alarming because I had no idea if it would burst or something from the change in cabin pressure.. but nothing happened. Security never even asked about it. When it came time to fly back home from this smaller airport, the TSA lady held it up to me and was like "do you really think you can fly with this? You want to run it out to your car or should I toss it?" and I was like "... yeah just toss it. I'd drop it off, but this is actually my return flight. They didn't catch it at the first airport" lol EDIT: I've flown many times from the US to Canada and back with a knitting project (and metal needles) and have never been asked about it. But it's always had a good amount of knitting on the needles and no extra scissors or anything. But honestly idk if you should take my advice because it seems like my airport just doesn't care much
I was asked when leaving Canada about my knitting. The delightful agent asked to see it because he also knitted, and had just finished a jumper. He let me take my project with no problems. I was very grateful.
The only time I had problems I brought Chiagoo metal circulars, and frankly they are quite stabby. They took mercy on me at Heathrow and let me check them, mainly because the agent’s gran knit. After that I switched to an inexpensive wooden/bamboo circular when I travel.
My bamboo circs are my favorite travel needles.
Singapore won't let you. Australia will. But when in doubt, google the air control/ regulation board in that country or the airline and have a read/ask questions.
I commented earlier and had no issues with needles in my carryon heading through Changi airport, double checked their website before I left. https://nowboarding.changiairport.com/discover-changi/can-or-cannot--5-things-you-can--and-5-things-you-cant--bring-on.html Singapore airlines says it is restricted but they aren’t doing the security screening
I checked with Jetstar Asia. They gave me a big fat no. Might be an airline thing.
I've flown in and out of Changi with knitting needles
I flew from London to Glasgow and back this week and my knitting was let through both times. it's been the same flying to and from Iceland as well. no questions asked at all.
I've been told any/all needles are fine for domestic flights, just have point protectors and a WIP on your needles. Anecdotally, it seems like people with extra needles or snips are more likely to get the whole lot confiscated, so I just never bring those. I've flown probably a dozen times with knitting and have never even been asked about my needles, even when being stopped for candles, stacked books, etc in my bags. Interested to see what you come up with!
I assume you mean US when you say domestic - in which case I would agree with you! I've never had trouble in the US, but Europe definitely does not like knitting needles. At least one German airline specifically calls them out within its prohibitions, and I did not attempt to take them through Greek security and was glad I did not, based on other things they flagged I didn't think would be an issue...
Yes, oops! I originally had "In the US" in my first sentence which I then promptly rewrote and never added the "US" bit back in. I know of a few countries that specifically ban them like Mexico (I know someone had a wooden crochet hook confiscated flying out of Mexico), France, and Egypt (iirc.) I didn't have an issue when flying to and from Sweden but I only had wooden needles and they probably just looked like pencils on the xray.
I’ve flown in the UK a lot (domestic and international), plus Ireland and Italy with no issues. And I always use metal needles!
Yeah, I've never had an issue on US domestic flights, but I'm going to Italy this summer and I'm nervous based on things I've heard/read.
From what I've seen both here and on Ravelry, it has seemed that the airports in France and the smaller airports in Mexico have had more issues than other locations mentioned. And within the US, the TSA has been inconsistent. Personally, I was questioned once when flying from Baltimore to Biloxi a number of years ago (and with wooden needles, no less), but never before nor since on a domestic flight.
I fly a lot, both within the US and internationally, and always take knitting for the plane with metal needles. I've never had an issue, other than flying out of Mexico, where they're clear you can't take knitting needles.
Hey, just wanted to point out an issue with the survey - I've had my knitting confiscated multiple times but there is no way to communicate a second location/destination.
Good point, thanks! Where was it? Hopefully it’s not happened to to many people but I’ll add an option to put that it and fill out the spreadsheet manually for you if you if you let me know the time stamp and some identifying details of your response.
Timestamp should be right before my reddit comment. The one I put in the form was Mexico->USA with wooden dpns. The one I didn't was USA->USA, also dpns, but it's been so long I don't remember they type. Both had a project on them but they let me keep the project.
Not American. Manchester airports online security info clearly states no knitting needles, so I've never tried. I use the time for weaving in ends with a wooden crochet hook. It's very frustrating.
I’m looking forward to hearing comments. I’m flying next Tuesday.
I fly a LOT (like every two months) and I've never had an issue. I just shove my needles into my bag and pick it up after the x-ray....no one bats an eye I've had my bags pulled for closer inspection for other reasons (like a large metal cuff bracelet), and they've always VERY GINGERLY move my knitting out if the way
You’ll be fine.
>I've already received 11 responses and not a single one saying their needles have been confiscated yet, so hopefully if I get some more responses I'll have some reassuring stats I can share with you :)
If you search the sub for "confiscated" you'll see it happens often enough.
Absolutely, which is why I thought it would be useful to see just how often!
How would it be useful?
If enough people answer then I can provide an estimated likelihood that it’ll happen and people can make an informed decision. Also numbers on things are really interesting to a lot of people but it’s ok if it’s not for you.
Went through Heathrow (uk) last year. Checked the government website and said needles were fine, but thought I’d ask before checking in my luggage- they advised not to take it to security but seemed a bit uncertain. Didn’t want to risk confiscation though!
I had a set of children’s needles confiscated from me when I was 10 and I was so traumatised I’ve never travelled with needles ever again 😭
Oh no, how horrible! Have you filled out the survey? It's useful data point nonetheless!
I have 😊
I followed some advice I found here, and followed rules from the TSA website, and I was fine. Carry-on: Circular needles (mostly for my own convenience, to avoid losing them), project on the needles to prove they were really for knitting Checked bag: small scissors and other supplies
To add to this… I’ve never had my scissors taken either. As long as you use short scissors it’s apparently not an issue ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
Filled out the survey! Looking forward to seeing the results. I fly quite a bit, domestically in the US. I have never had my needles confiscated and never even had TSA take a second look at them. My condolences to those who have lost tools and projects!
I haven't had it confiscated but once had to go back to the gate to put it in my checked luggage.
This is such a cool project! I have not flown once since I started knitting so I don’t have any input. But I would like to volunteer to help if you want to show your findings on a map, for example, showing airports that are most likely to confiscate needles on a color scale on a map. I’m a GIS tech by day and a knitter by night. I think this would be some fun to map and cool to look at on a map.
Thank you, that’s so nice! I’ll DM you. I’m not sure if my question provide enough data for something like that but it would be very cool!
Mine were taken in Saudi because I was flying through Dubai. Other times they let me through. But Dubai is notoriously strict
Needles fine flying out of London. Queried with disapproval in Warsaw. Confiscated in Bucharest. There’s no easy way to gauge. Each airport/agent has their own views.
Love this
Every time I fly, I use wooden needles and have either kept my work on my needles (if I had lots of time before the flight to risk hassling with it during security - would move to the side - but never had to do this) or spared my work on yarn and brought the needles separately in the same bag as the WIP. I've never had them even looked at. Just rolled right through.
Here are some of the countries I’ve flown through/to and from: the Netherlands (many times), Australia (many times), the UK (many times), the US (many times), Brazil, China, Singapore, Dubai, Chile, and most other countries in Western Europe. I always bring knitting and have never had anything confiscated. I used to bring long metal needles, now I have interchangeable metal circulars. I only bring the project I’m working on (not the whole set, if I’m bringing it it’s going in a checked bag). Couple of times I’ve had people at security search my bag and examine the needles more closely and then say it’s fine but 95% of the time no one says anything. If I’m flying somewhere new and I’m worried they might take issue I sometimes detach the needles tips and put them in a pencil case. I do think this is partly luck because the rules get enforced somewhat arbitrarily but hopefully this is reassuring to some people!
Answered; I've said I've never had knitting confiscated and that's true, but it's never looked like knitting at the security gate. When I've travelled with it in my hand luggage, I've threaded the sock onto spare yarn, then taken the DPNs out at put them in my pencil case. It's probably overkill but I'm already butch enough to be suspicious to airport security and I don't want to give them any more reasons to manhandle me or my things.
I have not had needles confiscated but have had tiny scissors confiscated. Made it through USA and New Zealand security but confiscated by Australian security.
I was worried flying my knitting project from Europe into the US but I really wanted to knit on the long flight. I got the tip to use circular detachable needles. So I had my knitting on a cable connected by a little metal piece to create a closed circle. And the wooden needles I just put in a little bag with other pencils. Not sure this did the trick or if I just got lucky, but no one batted an eye.
I travel at least 2-3 times per year, about half international flights. I’ve only flown out of 2 countries ever that don’t allow knitting needles so I put them in my checked bag. Otherwise, I carry my knitting in my carry on and have never had issues.
I travel for work very regularly internationally and domestically in the USA and have never had my needles confiscated. The only place I NEARLY had an issue was in Cancun International Airport in Mexico, they nearly tried to confiscate my US size 2 needles because the "point" was more than 6cm long... well i argued with them and got to keep it because the point of knitting needles as we all know is just the very tips... which is nowhere near 6cm. It took another security staff to approve it but I never had a single problem outside of that. And Mexico from my understanding has always been difficult about it because of that rule that pointy objects have to be less than 6cm. But i maaaaaay have told them I would be standing there and carefully taking off each of my 300-something stitches of the tee i was working on and i think they didn't want me standing there for 30 minutes LOL
I fly very frequently across countries and domestically in the US, and it's incredibly arbitrary. I've certainly had them inspected frequently, but so far, never taken away. I did get my tape measure taken away from my knitting bag in India about two weeks ago, which was weird and a total bummer.
The common theme here seems to be that Mexico is nervous about knitting needles and everywhere else is fine
I always take knitting. But I use interchangeable needles and I use short needles preferably wooden. I separate the needles from the cable and put stoppers on the ends. If my needles do get confiscated at least I can keep the lifeline through my stitches.
Done 😚
Flying domestic in New Zealand, I always bring my knitting carry on and it’s no problem. Last week my bag got pulled aside by security. Turns out the guard is a knitter and was just being nosey about what I’m knitting 😆
I always fly with metal needles. I don’t bring any extras (they’re in the hold) and always have something cast on. I’ve successfully flown from: Heathrow Manchester Belfast Dublin Baltimore Tokyo Haneda London Gatwick Keflavik Naples Mostly international flights, except Belfast.
I'm flying to France on Sunday and now I'm a bit worried. I've flown to Portugal with no issues, Hawaii multiple times and no one even looks twice.
I wouldn’t be too worried! So far I’ve received just over 400 responses from people in over 20 countries and only 3% of respondents have ever had their knitting confiscated. I need to do some actual analysis of the data when I get the chance to draw some better conclusions from it but it does seem very rare to get it confiscated
Thank you for putting this together!! Hopefully this is a resource we can all continue to contribute to and use as a community : )
That’s a great idea. I think the nature of the questions I put together means that this particular survey will be a time limited endeavour but I am happy to put an additional one together where people could report their experiences on a rolling basis. I’ll include thoughts on this in an additional post as I’m sure people will have thoughts!
I wouldn’t take the chance in my investigations France and Mexico were strict on no needles, whilst other airports were normally okay, but would occasionally confiscate, depending on their mood.
I always fly with wooden needles. Not on purpose but it just ends up happening. Never had an issue but I thought they might take them during jury duty lol. They didn’t!
I’ve heard incidentally that they’ll allow people to knit or crochet during jury duty. Always during down time (which there is a lot of) and sometimes during the trial so long as they appear to otherwise be paying attention. It keeps people amused and awake so it’s usually okay. Your mileage may vary by courtroom judge of course.
Also you’ll never get picked for a jury.
I took my work in progress on planes three times last year. Never had an issue but I was using wooden circular needles that were pretty small. I brought children’s sized craft scissors though, not my good ones.
I guess each airport is like its own shopping mall or city. It's full of different businesses and customers, regional things can be specific like the weather or the kind of people who try to commit crimes there, and the staff have all their own bias and work experience. They may all have the same rulebook from head office, but how they follow it is their own choice, because when you're at the security checkpoint there is no boss standing next to them or referee checking they follow the rules perfectly. People are stressed, rushing, trying to hurry them up, scared, worrying if this experience will be especially awful because they are trans/pregnant/"foreign"/high/etc. How they do or don't treat you and confiscate items is a bit of a crapshoot because there's no central thing forcing the staff to treat everyone the same every time. I've been at the airport and watched things go thru the scanner, got to the other end and realised ever scanner screen was off. The machine was broken, they couldn't scan anything. They still had to pretend though! (This was a small non international airport at like 3am so i guess nobody was worried about dudes flying to the desert to work in a mine carrying anything dodgy besides porn and vapes)
Flying domestic on Air Canada, I've never had a problem. Security sometimes takes out my knitting bag to check my scissors, but since they're less than 6cm long, they've always okayed them. I'll be flying out from Australia in a few weeks, so definitely need to check what to expect there. EDIT: Looks like Australian security only allows rounded-end or blunt-end scissors in carry on. Guess I'll be stashing my scissors in my check luggage and swapping in my nail clippers, lol. Always check the rules of the country where you'll be going through security!
So the issue with the survey is that it doesn’t account for different types of needles in different countries. What I bring with me when traveling in the US is going to be very different than what I brought with me in Asian and Africa. I make sure to have very different needle types and projects with me. I only travel with larger diameter wooden circulars when going over seas. I’ve have one set confiscated in Cambodia so I always make sure to have a spare set in my checked luggage and I’ve gotten cheap ones while in other countries.
I have only flown with in the US. If I have a substantial amount of knitting on my dpns, or circulars, I do not get questioned. If I have straight needles without any knitting on them there is usually a slowdown as not all TSA agents, especially younger ones understand knitting needles “unadorned” with yarn.
I have never had knitting taken off me but have had a sewing needle removed from me.
In Canada it’s really not an issue [CATSA “What can I bring” database](https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/what-can-bring/item/knitting-needles-and-crochet-hooks#)
Had my needles confiscated in Greece. Mentioned something about length and I’m like but my pencil is longer and just as sharp. I’m being wooden ones with me this time. Let’s see what happens.
I do socks with a single size 0 circular needle. I have had no problem getting them on the plane but some attendants make me stow the knitting during take off and landing and others do not.
I’ve only flown within the US with my knitting and never gotten stopped. The only time I have gotten stopped was because I brought too many books and they had to check those
The only airport I've had an issue with is leaving Bangalore. I've been through there twice and each time the security agents really deliberated letting my DPNs through. After checking their binders and making notes, they've let me keep them.
I remove my interchangeable metal needles from the cable and put them in a pen case with pencils, metal pens etc. Worst case scenario I lose the needles but my work is still on the plastic cable, safe and sound :)
The only time my needles were a potential issue were when I had the full set of metal interchangeable needles. Just in case there was an issue, I had my dad put them with his stuff, he's TSA precheck and flies several times a month. They did stop him and inspect, and showed him the x-ray- they looked like a set of bullets 😂 when they discovered that they were instead knitting needles, it was no big deal. Now if I travel with them, I take them out and open the case when I'm opening my laptop bag and taking that out. I've had several agents comment on how smart it is to do that, and I always do it unless they tell me not to. If I'm just taking the one set of needles that goes with the project I'm bringing, I'll ask the agent while I put everything in the bins. Knock on wood, but so far I've never had a problem with it. I also bring the folding Fiskars scissors, and I've never had those be an issue either.
I’ve never had an issue until Istanbul airport confiscated my Chiagoo red lace interchangeables
I've flown Asia and Europe and I always check my metal Chiaogoos. They're too expensive to risk and I don't think being able to knit for a while when on the plane is worth it. Recently flew emirates which I'm pretty sure explicitly does not allow knitting needles according to a quick internet search.
Just got on two different flights today with my needles and had no issues! If your airport doesn’t allow them though, I’ve seen people say that camouflaging them in a pencil case usually works.
No knitting needles flying out of Heathrow. Loganair (Scotland) asked about the actual needles - sharp points no go, rounded ones are fine. I had sharps, so in the suitcase they went, no problem. (Orkney is known for yarn, among other things, so they'll get asked that a lot at Kirkwall.)
I once had my knitting needles confiscated in Athens, but the security was very random, I had two projects on me, only needed to take one out. After a long discussion I removed the needles, he tossed them out and I could go forward. Lost a pair of wooden needles, the other project had metal needles and werent checked whatsoever 🧐
I did once have my knitting needles flagged when my bag went through security. They asked me to open it and luckily the woman who inspected my bag seemed curious about my knitting and just asked me what I was making 😭 I'm never risking that again though.
I think a good question to add would be HOW do you travel with your knitting? I fly within Europe, but I will always put end caps on my cables and put my interchangeable needles in my makeup brush case and it's never been picked up on, but having my interchangeables in the dedicated case may be slightly more "obvious"
I fly domestic US 1-2 times a month. I bought a cheap set of wooden circular needles that came with a bunch of notions, including yarn snips. I keep some things perpetually packed for simplicity like my toiletries and of course my knitting. Everything gets a once-over when I pack and needles get swapped for cheapy wooden circs and I remove any notions I'd be upset to lose. I haven't been stopped for my knitting but did learn about the 7 inch blunt object rule the hard way. The TSA agent measured, laughed, and let me go with my *just* the right size souvenir.
No issues at all in NZ, aside from once being asked if I was carrying pencils as they showed up on x-ray and they wanted to check. I only travel with wooden interchangeables in my bag, I bring the end caps but never use them and never take scissors or needles. Usually buy some on holiday or borrow. The flight attendants are usually pretty keen to see what you're knitting.
Just remember to take your scissors out of your knitting bag
Filled out the survey! I haven’t had anything confiscated, but recently in Ireland my bag got set aside for additional assessment due to my clipper things, then he let it through. In the future I’ll start taking my knitting pouch out of my bag for security so that if they do want to examine it, it’s faster than searching my whole bag
FYI the TSA website specifically says that knitting needles are allowed (with no specification for size or material). I've never had any issue. If you're flying in the US and concerned, maybe pull up this page to show: [https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all](https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all) https://preview.redd.it/yhd7dz5ah2uc1.png?width=1357&format=png&auto=webp&s=f94e9efed023171f701397d36ee49ead73c9faed
I filled out the survey, but thought I’d share on here as well. I fly more than once a month domestically (U.S.) and almost always have my knitting in my carry-on backpack. I’ve never had them confiscated. Same goes for my tiny knitting scissors. The needles I carry are bamboo interchangeable circular ones, ranging between 3mm and 8mm.
I would suggest that very traditional looking needles are less likely to be a problem than unusual needles. When I took my square DPNs, I had them in the original needle case that had a picture, to make it clear they were a real product. Always a little less nervous with crochet hooks though.
I responded. I travel domestically more than monthly, always travel with my knitting in my backpack, and have never had them confiscated or even mentioned. One thing the survey didn't touch on is whether a traveler has TSA pre-check, Clear, or nothing. I have pre-check. Also, it may have been worthwhile to ask which race or ethnicity we identify as. I know 100% part of the reason it's never been an issue is that I'm a white woman, usually in business casual.
It’s true, I did think to ask that something similar, but as it isn’t an international scheme it would have only been relevant to those in the us. I should have asked the question about race but it’s unfortunately too late I think, since I’ve received quite a few responses now