Up, up, and away?
I need your advice. The week of Thanksgiving I will be flying--and boy will my arms be tired. *rim shot*
Sorry, that was too good to pass up.
Anyway, I'll be flying and likely having a lot of time to knit. I mean more than one might ordinarily have. Because there's nothing I enjoy more in life than having as many possible things being uncertain, I am taking a risk and flying standby. My sister-in-law works for an airline. One of her benefits is allowing family members to fly for reduced rates. The catch, of course, is that there is no guarantee of a seat. If the plane is full, I'm out of luck until there is a flight with an opening.
The price difference between this option and buying a ticket on another airline is significant enough that I'm willing to take the chance. If I have to wait awhile, no problem. You know how I feel about airports. Better yet, I can knit until my heart's content. I will be relaxed and look oh so wise.
Here's where I need your help. I know that knitting needles are permitted on planes, but what advice do you have for transporting knitting supplies? Do you carry on all of it or just what you'll need during the flight? Scissors? Have you had knitting-related problems with security? Is it better to have an aisle or window seat to maximize knitting space? (I'm guessing aisle is better, but maybe this is a counterintuitive scenario.) Is there anything I ought to know not covered in these questions?
To make this standby situation even more interesting, it is possible this option might get taken out of the mix. If my sister-in-law were to change employers between now and then, this cheaper standby route becomes unavailable to me. So, in an attempt to save a decent chunk of money, I could end up paying more.
And I claim not to be adventurous...
Labels: flying, knitting questions
posted by the secret knitter @ 11:17 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
For my Europe trip (part of the crazy reason why I decided to start knitting) I picked out my projects ahead of time and had plastic or wooden (bamboo) needles in the sizes I needed. I bought some little kid scissors that have the rounded tips, and now I actually like them better because I can throw them in my bag and I rarely worry about them poking and jabbing at my project. I also brought a tape measure, stitch markers, the patterns, and point covers. I never actually used the point covers, but I did have them. I also brought a nail kit in hopes that the clippers could work as a backup if they took my scissors. I didn't have any problems in the states, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, or Spain. I have heard that Britain is still very strict about knitting needles as well as jury duty in many states.
My general goal was to try to leave behind everything that was poky, pointy or just 'weird looking' to a non-knitter unless I needed it for my project.
I took one of those round thingys they sell at Joanns that you slide the yarn over to cut. You can see one here: http://viridianyarn.com/acatalog/CloverYarnCutter.jpg
I had no problems whatsoever.
Just flew to Atlanta and back with my B2B sock in my carry-on, and knitted all the way there and back. (It was on the nickel-plated KP circular needles.) Absolutely no problem in security, nor did I expect any -- knitting needles have been off the restricted list for quite a long time now. I had short sewing scissors in my bag, too, and those are now on the allowed list (anything up to a 4" blade I believe), so again, I anticipated and had no problems.
I prefer a window seat, but aisle would probably be better for you. I certainly had to keep my elbows to myself as I knitted.
My project bags right now are gallon-sized ziplock bags. I carry everything in there for any project smaller than a blanket. (Or a sweater I guess, though I'm not yet there.) Just put the pattern, chibis, needles, yarn, stitch markers, pen, and scissors in there, zipped it up, and went.
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