they took me needles!:sad:

[knit.newbie]

I had a looong loooooong flight coming back home..and I thought knitting needles were okay to take on the plane..so I had my scarf OTNs in my laptop backpack..and extra needles of a different size...and another pair of needles just like the one my scarf is on..just broken!

got into one airport..went through a few checkpoints..got on my plane..and off in another airport..more checkpoints..and nobody told me anything about my needles..
so then I had to wait for a cpl of hours for my next flight...so pulled out my needles and went bk to my knitting..

when I had to get on the plane I just threw my scarf in my purse...and went through another check point to go to my gate(this time my needles are in my purse..so they're visible)

so even though both my purse and my backpack went through the big thing where they can see wuts in the bag on their screen and they had no problem with it, the guy pulling the bags out of the machine saw the needles(and saw me)..so he went around asking a cpl of ppl if that's allowed on the plane..they didn't seem to know..till the manager finally told him to take it..so he tells me they're not allowed and proceeds to pull my stitches of the needles! I'm new to knitting..so picking up stitches after frogging or if they slipped off the needle is a bit of a pain cuz I keep getting them all twisted..
so..he just jerks the yarn off the needle..and hands it over to me.. of course a cpl of the stitches unraveled a bit..and i had to find a way to get a piece of yarn go through all the stitches to it won't just completely unravel..and had no needles or crochet hook or anything..
it would've been so much easier if he gave me a chance to do so while they were on the needles..

that ticked me off..it also got me a bit suspicious cause nobody seemed to care about the needles when they were in the bags..I mean..it's not like im just hiding the broken pair somewhere..they can't miss 2 pairs of 40cm needles!! plus nobody seemed to know if they were allowed or not..till the manager told him to take them away..
call me paranoid..but people from my ethnicity often gets questioned/bugged in airports..i know cause I've been through it!! so I'm kindda suspicious that this is why they did so..i mean..wouldn't ANY of the workers know if it was prohibited? even if they didn't notice it when it was in the backpack/purse(the anonymous bag that they didn't know who it belongs to) going through that checkpoint?

I also pulled out my scarf on the plane..along with the broken needles..and i knit for like an hour or so..no flight attendants seemed to care..and I'm sure they saw me knitting!

so just to stop my paranoia..anybody else had the same problem with olympic airlines??

so yea..that's my lil rant..sorry it's too long and thanks for reading!
oh..and sorry if it's not organized and the grammar is all messed up..forgive me but I'm brain dead after being in airplanes and airports for the last 22 hours or so

[PaperGirl]

Maaaaaaaaan!

If someone had started yanking my hard work off my needles I think I would have poked him in the eye with them.

THAT was rude. You should have been able to at least slip them to some waste yarn or something. Not fair.

I hope your scarf didnt suffer too much damage.

[vaknitter]

WOW - that SUCKS. I am getting ready to fly to LA and fully intend to print out (in large font) the TSA webpage that says knitting needles (of any size) are allowed on the plane.

I haven't heard of Olympic - where were you flying to/from?

[knit.newbie]

If someone had started yanking my hard work off my needles I think I would have poked him in the eye with them.

THAT was rude. You should have been able to at least slip them to some waste yarn or something. Not fair.

I hope your scarf didnt suffer too much damage.

I would've loved poking him in the eye with it!!! I also wanted to go back home though..didn't really wanna get arrested..

and yea..it was rude..most of the ppl working in that airport(athens airport) were rude though..
oh well..there wasn't much damage..but it just ticked me off
thanks!

I haven't heard of Olympic - where were you flying to/from?

I was flying from Egypt to Toronto..stopping at athens..
it's the greek airlines (they provide reasonable prices for a flight that long)

I really hope you don't have any problems with your knitting!!

[Jan in CA]

Oh no..that's too bad. TSA does have the info here;
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...rial_1252.shtm
however it does say they can still take them away if the are perceived to be a threat. So even though it says you can..they can still take them. I've heard of people using pencils because they never take those!

[knit.newbie]

I've heard of people using pencils because they never take those!

maybe I'll try that next time!!

cause honestly, they'll prolly consider MY needles a 'threat' every single time =(

[Jan in CA]

I've heard of problems more often on transatlantic flights.

I'll have to use pencils sometime, too.

[bailsmom]

OMG!! I cannot believe he did that to you!! I would have screamed at him and grabbed them right back before he could do anymore damage.

That is just unbelieveable. Of course I'm not one to make a scene unless it's called for.

I too would have poked his eyes out with the needles. Okay, maybe I would have just thought about it, but STILL!!!

People suck.

[hob]

omg thats so wrong! i hope u can save your scarf. am i the only one thinking that u can sharpen pencil to well very pointy but a needle has a much less pontso should be classed as safer? not just that but he should of given u ur scarf to try and save its not for him to yank at ur work. stupid people im realy sorry, u were picked on like that.

[zkimom]

My dh travels all the time (really, not kidding) and all over the world. When we went to Paris and I mentioned trying to bring my knitting with me, he just gave me a look and advised me not to even try.

Yes, I know that there are many people on this board who have knitted on airplanes, usually within the continental US, and that FSA regulations say knitting needles are ok for travel but the reality is that in the Post 9-11 world all bets are off.

It's frustrating but if the person you have to deal with to get on a plane (and ultimately to your destination) thinks that needles are a no go, then your needles don't go.

You can make an issue of it, but would you really? Just for a few stitches on a scarf? I'm sorry but I think airport security and customs is a little too scary for all that. I've seen people pulled aside for the most ridiculous things in a security check. And while you may think those security people know you are just an average person and not a threat to national security because of your sharp little pointy needles, they are waiting for the next terrorist attack.

Those people in that airport security check (or in the States, any other security check) are serious about what they are doing and sorry to say, IMO, are not always the brightest bulbs in the bunch. But they control whether or not you get on the plane or get to see the Statue of Liberty or climb to the top of the Empire State Building or get to see the Liberty Bell and do you really want to piss them off just to save a few stitches?

I understand how you feel about losing your needles and having to rip them off the needle but seriously, how much time does one have to go through that line? As for me, I want to get through it as fast as possible and so does that little guy behind you who may or may not make his flight. So waiting for you to get a lifeline into your knitting is not anyone's priority in an airport security line.

Ok, enough said.

Best,
Susan ( who is as attached to her knitting as everyone else but thinks the best thing to do when flying is to bring a good book.)