Needles, hooks and air travel: Can you really take them on carry-on?
TLDR: Most of the time, yes! Particularly in North America.
Keep reading to get into the specifics as well as tips to make sure you’re knitting will be accepted in carry-on!
If you’d like some packing tips, check out my related blog post: 7 Packing essentials for knitters and crocheters.
I’m not very good at sitting still, especially if my hands aren’t occupied with a crochet or knitting project. This is especially true on long plane journeys. However, as I am sure many of my fellow knitters out there will know, some airlines don’t allow knitting needles in the cabin of their planes. There doesn’t seem to be much consistency, but I wanted to create this post, based on my experience and what I’ve found with different airlines, as well as how I try to get confirmation on what was accepted.
I have kept this blog specific to knitting needles, as crochet hooks have never been a problem (however in researching for this post, have found exceptions, please see the table further down). This post is also specific to hand luggage (also referred to as carry-on luggage and cabin luggage), there shouldn’t be any problem storing knitting needles in checked luggage.
I initially drafted this blog post based purely on my own experience and the steps that I had taken. But I decided to dig a little deeper and see what other information I could find, to make this post as helpful as possible. It uncovered some interesting areas, for example, I learnt that airports in UK and Ireland approve knitting needles for hand luggage (and small nail scissors that are 6cm or less in length) (see Gov.uk), but the airline you are flying with / the airport you fly back from may not allow them.
I also learnt that the Transportation Security Administration in the U.S. made it permissible for both knitting needles and crochet hooks to be in carry-on for all domestic US flights.
Knittingneedlesguide.com has a great list of general country-specific information on this, which is a good starting point, but I believe it is important to double-check with airlines too, following the steps I have outlined below.
Although some airlines/ countries allow scissors if the blade is under 6 cm in length, my number 1 tip for everyone, regardless of craft: is pack nail clippers instead of scissors! They are completely functional for cutting yarn and perfectly fine to have in carry-on luggage.
I also saw Etihad specifically list measuring tapes as a prohibited item https://www.etihad.com/en/fly-etihad/baggage/prohibited-items, so that’s something to consider!
I actually don’t have a photo of knitting on a plane…but you get the idea!
How to find out what airlines allow in carry-on:
Below are the steps I use, in the order that I take them, to see what airlines accept knitting needles in cabin luggage. I recommend starting these steps at least a week prior to your flight so that, if you have to reach out to the airline, they have enough time to respond before your trip.
Look on the airline website.
If mentioned it would be found on ‘prohibited items for carry-on’. If knitting needles aren’t listed, I would use the search bar to look for the term ‘knitting needles’ to see if anything is returned
Use X (formerly Twitter)
If the airline website fails, my next step is to look at their official account on X
Once I have found the airline’s account, I search their tweets for ‘knitting needles’ (from their account page, click on the magnifying glass to bring up the search bar). I have found this helpful, more often than not someone has already asked, so you can see the airline's response.
Alternatively in Google you could try searching the <airline name, Twitter, “knitting needles”> and see what comes up.
If no one has asked, you can tweet them to ask! If they respond, this not only helps you but other knitters in the future!
Use Website Contact Us forms/email address
If they haven’t responded to your tweet after a couple of days (or you don’t have Twitter), my final attempt is to use a contact us form/email address on the airline website and use that to ask them. It can sometimes take a few days for them to reply.
If in doubt, use caution
If all the above fails, it’s better to er on the side of caution and leave your knitting needles/other sharp objects in checked luggage, or at home if you’re not planning to take checked luggage.
AIrlines that allow and don’t allow
Below is a table of airlines and whether they allow knitting needles in hand luggage or not, or highlights the grey areas where further research may be required. This is a non-exhaustive list, I haven’t covered every airline, just those I have been on within the last three years or those I have already researched. Though I will continue to add and update this list whenever I use a new airline. As you will see, many do not specify knitting needles.
DISCLAIMER: Although I will try to keep this list up to date, I would strongly urge you to not take the below list as advice alone, and please do the checks outlined above too, in case the information is out of date, or different to my own experience.
If your experience was different from mine with any of the airlines listed below, please let me know, so I can adjust the table. Also if you have information on other airlines not listed here, I would love to hear it!
Still not sure and want to risk it? Let’s try to minimize the risk of you losing your needles…
These are some recommendations I have found if you aren’t sure whether knitting needles are allowed in carry-on, but would like to try anyway:
Avoid straight needles, double-pointed needles and metal needles
These are more likely to be considered a ‘dangerous weapon’ as they are sharper and look sturdy!
Instead, opt for interchangeable needles, as the needle part is shorter in length and can be removed and tucked into checked luggage if needed. In the worst case, they are confiscated, you could buy a replacement set of needles to attach to your cables
`Have some yarn with you too, better yet, be in the middle of your project so that security can see the needles are in use, and not intended to be a weapon
If you would like to risk it, I have read of people taking a self-addressed envelope with them to the airport so that if their needles are not approved for the flight, they can mail them back to themselves before they head to their flight (i have never done this, I prefer to just not take the risk, and will instead plan a crochet project to do (where I am super sure that crochet hooks are allowed))
I hope you found this useful, please let me know in the comments! Happy travel crafting!
For more travel tips when it comes to crafting, take a look at my other blog posts. Including: 7 Packing Essential for Knitters and Crocheters
Looking for some patterns that make great, small projects to pack in your hand luggage. My designs might be just what you’re looking for!