Airport (and airplane) knitting

After hearing and reading several horror stories of knitters having needles confiscated by airport security I decided to take one skein of sock yarn and two sets of double-pointed needles in my carry-on bag and pray that one or both sets of needles would make it through.

My needles were Clover bamboos, US size 2 (7 inches), and Chargue wooden needles, US size 3 (5.5 inches). The Clovers are longer and pointier, and were my preferred choice. When we went through security in Atlanta both needle sets were in their holders and the sock yarn was still undisturbed in the skein. After we passed through security I quickly sent a text message to Penny because she was praying the needles would pass with no problem, then Steve and I walked/trotted to concourse E. (We wanted to exercise a bit because we knew we'd be sitting still in the plane for over 2 hours.) After walking around for some time, I sat down and cast on for a sock using the Clover needles.

I knitted at the gate until we boarded the plane, then continued knitting for the entire flight to Cancun. Two of the flight attendants were knitters and they came and talked to me about my sock, felt the yarn, etc. (I wish I'd gotten pictures.) After we landed I put the sock away and knitted on the shawl while we were at the resort.

On the return trip I took the Clover needles out of the sock and replaced them with the Chargue needles, thinking that the shorter needles would attract less notice. And if anyone in security felt the need to dispose of any knitting needles, I'd prefer to say "adios" to the Chargues rather than the Clovers. There was no problem, however, and I knitted away in the Cancun airport, transferred the sock back onto the Clovers after we boarded the plane, then knitted and read on the flight to Atlanta.

Now I need to finish my Cancun socks.