Crochet on a 'plane

[Harvestar]

A few weeks ago, I flew to London (a week before the London bombings), Amsterdam, back to London (2 days after the bombings), to Dublin, back to London (a week later), then back to the US. I went through a LOT of security screenings. I had my whole metal hook collection with me on the way over and they never batted an eye. Flying back to London from Amsterdam right after the bombings, they began to be interested in my crochet hook collection. So they'd just rescan my bag and take it out and look at it. They always said, "Oh, just crochet hooks" or "You like to knit?" - I always quickly corrected them since knitting needles aren't allowed in London Gatwick or Dublin. I got screened twice in Amsterdam - once in the normal security and once at the gate. I eventually realized that I should just put my metal hooks except for the one I needed into my checked luggage. This worked better - they never batted an eye on the one hook, though they may have rerun the bag through the machine, but I did have some electronics in there too. I also had my luggage hand searched at the gate in London Gatwick on the Continental flight back to the US - everyone did!

 

So I would guess that a crochet hook or two pose no problem, particularly plastic ones. A whole set of metal ones? They'll likely search your bag. Which often doesn't take too long. You may even want to put it out separately if you are worried about time.

[Harvestar]

<<<There was even someone else crocheting on the return flight!>>>

 

Anne, this completely amazed me. I have NEVER seen anybody doing any kind of needlework in an airport or flight except for a pro football player some years ago. He changed his seat to sit next to me as he discovered that I knew about needlepoint also--he worked on his needlepoint while I knitted. Apparently, some team members took up various hobbies to kill time during road trips. Missed his flight with the team for whatever reason, which is why he was on a commercial flight.

 

 

Wow, I've seen people knitting and crocheting all the time! I've even got seated next to people who were also working on projects and had flight attendants ask me about what I was making and telling me about their knitting (one of the times was even back several years ago before knitting was "cool"). One of the more interesting groups was several professorial type people travelling together and one of the older guys was teaching the woman in the group how to knit. We discussed our projects and how long we've been doing knitting/crocheting and caught up on our progress on the return flight too.

 

Many of my friends also knit on planes.

[prpl4me]

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you all know I flew today from Las Vegas to Onterio Calif.

I asked the security baggage check person, that checked my carry on, if crochet hooks were allowed to be carried on the plane. He said "crochet hooks are ok to bring on the plane". I left mine at my moms house just so I wouln't have a problem. If I would have known I could have finished the towel toppers I'm working on, oh well, they'll be there next time. Also he said you can go to www.TSA.gov and check to what is acceptable to carry on and what isn't.

Well we all know now for the next flight.

Kim