Oh, and my yarn needles (not knitting needles) live in a little shotgun-cartridge shaped container than I had in my bag. I meant to take them out and put them in the checked bag because I was nervous about what that would look like in an x-ray machine, but I forgot. No problems. I mean, if they had wanted a closer look, I could have opened it and shown them the (blunt) yarn needles, but they didn’t.
Bolding mine. My aluminum stitch holders were confiscated because they were metal, they were ever so slightly pointy at one end, and they weren’t on the list.
My 14 inch bamboo knitting needles and 10 inch aluminum knitting needles . . . fine. 'Cause “knitting needles” is on the list.
You can also take some yarn on a tapestry needle and run it through all the stitches on your knitting needle, in a pinch.
The TSA website has this page on flying with knitting and needlepoint. As they say, “TSA Screeners have the authority to determine if an item could be used as a weapon and may not allow said item to pass through security.”
Just don’t get mad and stab a flight attendent with one whatever you do. That will just screw it up for everybody else.
Thanks for the advice, everyone! I decided not to bring it with me after all… of course, the woman sitting right behind me was knitting happily for the entire flight. I’m definitely going to pick up a yarn cutter and stitch holders for the flight back to school, though. 
(By the way, Mirror Image, it is an afghan… I guess I should be careful!)
Exactly. I mean, it’s not as if they’d confiscate your yarn and half-finished afghan, is it? They’d only take your needles.
Though on reflection, that could be a big deal. Maybe those needles are much more expensive than we realize. After all, my wife bought a tiny pair of bird-shaped scissors for her needle point work, and they were around $30.
I’ve taken knitting on several planes since 9-11, plastic and wood needles seem to be a-okay, especially ones as large at 11s. I had a pair of wood 4s on once that really could be used as a weapon and no one noticed.
If you’re very worried take a self addressed stamped envelope or box big enough for your project and if they refuse to let the knitting on you can put it in the envelope and mail it in the airport. A friend of mine does this whenever she flies with knitting. She’s never had to use it, but supposedly security is supposed to let you do it.
Good luck and happy knitting.
Ever picked a thread in your sweater and kept picking at it and it comes loose, and all of a sudden, your sweater starts to unravel? Or you get a hole in your sweater and it begins to run? Until the thing is done, the needles (or a stitch holder) keep that from happening.
So, say they do just take the needles away. Instead of a partially finished sweater/afghan/whatever that you’ve worked on for who knows how many hours, you have a pile of yarn. One that will quickly become a pile of knots if not attended to quickly. That’s never fun.
Very true, which is why you need to have a stitch holder (plastic) or a tapestry needle and yarn to hold your stitches in case your needles get taken away.
The other point is that some needles are cheap and some are very expensive. But I wouldn’t personally take very expensive needles on a plane or anywhere else. YMMV.
And Gorsnak recommends calling in advance. The problem is that it’s up to the TSA person you get. If an item is on the allowed list and for some reason they decide otherwise, there’s no appealing it. So be prepared no matter what they tell you the policy is.
There’s an excellent chance of having no issues at all, and if you have problems, there are easy ways to resolve them, luckily.
All good advice. Having the padded envelope in advance is always a good idea. Needlewise bamboo circulars or Denise set go thru without the least amount of hold up. Circs are great, you don’t end up bonking your neighbor and they are easier on your wrists. Nice to see so many knitters here