How to Knit on a Plane: Packing Tips and TSA-Friendly Knitting Supplies

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I knitted my latest pair of socks entirely in flight over various trips I took this Spring. There are a few tricks to knitting on a plane, so I’m sharing my best tips with you today.

Picking Your Project and Planning Your Plane Knitting

Choosing the right project is the first key to successful plane knitting. Socks, for instance, are an excellent choice due to their compact size and the hours of knitting they offer. In contrast, sweaters and blankets, being larger, are not ideal for plane projects. Hats, while the right size, can sometimes be too quick to knit up.

When you are picking a pattern, be sure to select one with a simple stitch pattern that you can memorize. You don’t want to have your pattern out on that tiny tray table so you can follow instructions. I chose these simple broken rib socks for my plane project – they are based on the Broken Record sock pattern but I changed it to a 6×2 rib, just to be fancy.

My second tip for plane knitting is to plan ahead and do any ‘pre-knitting’ that might be necessary. For instance, I avoid casting on during flights to minimize arm movements and potential annoyance to fellow passengers. Similarly, I prefer to work the heel section of a sock ahead of time to avoid having to pull out the pattern during the flight.

By the way, if you have a long flight and you really want to go patternless, grab some self-striping sock yarn and knit some long sock tubes in flight—super easy! Then, you can add afterthought heels later. (Learn about that method here.)

Selecting the Right Materials for Knitting on the Plane

My third and fourth tips involve materials. The third tip is pretty self-explanatory: avoid using dark yarn because planes have terrible lighting. The fourth tip is a neat hack: use circular needles instead of DPNs or straight needles. This ensures you will never drop a needle in your seat or on the floor and have to do some awkward inflight yoga to retrieve it.

If you are knitting socks or planning to work on another project using circulars and the magic loop method, I recommend using the smallest cable length possible. For socks, I prefer using a 24” circular needle. Using shorter cables will help prevent accidentally hitting your row mates in the face with your cable and make you a considerate traveler. You could even consider using 9” circular needles for a super compact project. I personally like using them for colorwork sock projects, although I haven’t quite mastered my tension on 9” circulars enough to take on a lace project, but that’s just due to my own knitting style.

Can You Bring Knitting Supplies Through Security?

Finally, I’ll close with an answer to the number one question I get about knitting on planes: What knitting supplies can you take through airport security? The answer is that both wood and metal knitting needles are totally fine and almost everything in a typical notions case is good to go – even scissors! I pack the kind made for kids – they are short and have blunt tips making them TSA-friendly. Over the past 20+ years, TSA has searched my bag twice and didn’t object to any of my knitting stuff once they got a closer look. Here is a snapshot of my notions kit that I take on the plane every time I fly including scissors, tapestry needles, crochet hooks, pins, and cable needles:

And now, here are some more details on these beautiful socks!

yarn details

Knit Picks Muse in Kindness Speckle
Fingering Weight
75% Superwash Merino Wool, 25% Nylon
Machine Wash, Tumble Dry Low or Air Dry
100 g/423 yd skein
Purchased in November 2023

project details

pattern: “Broken Record Broken Rib Socks” by Alex Parker Mooney (free Ravelry download)
size knit: CO 64
needles: US size 1 (2.25 mm), 24” circular needles (Knit Picks nickel-plated fixed circulars)
gauge: 8.5 stitches per inch in stockinette
yarn used: 305 yards (72 grams)
finished size: Back of heel flap to tip of toe: 9.25”; Top of cuff to bottom of heel flap: 8.75”; Cuff: 1.25”; Heel flap: about 2.25”
duration: January – June 2024

notes

• This pattern is almost identical to the long-lost Vanilla Latte sock pattern, but it uses a 4×2 broken rib instead of a 6×2 so I changed up the stitch pattern a bit to: K3, P2, (K6, P2) to the last three stitches, K3; followed by a row of all knits. Here it is charted out: