After years of international travel I have discovered the best way to fly with a knitting project is to utilize the extremely high-tech Ziploc baggie technology.
Gather together the yarn and tools you will need for one project at a time and stick it together in a clear gallon or quart size Ziploc baggie. It’s easy for anyone to look at during a security check and simple to keep organized while traveling. If you’re an out-of-sight/out-of-mind person like me, you probably already have every project in a baggie. It’s the only way I ever remember what I’m making!
One of the upsides of packing only a project’s worth of yarn in the Ziploc baggie methodology is that you don’t risk contaminating all your stash and supplies if you run into a problem while traveling. I learned this the hard way when I stayed at an unvetted place in Paris that may or may not have had the dreaded bug. You know the one — it’s the bug all travelers fear. That’s a post for another time my friends. I lost two skeins of good yarn and a few small tools but nothing like what I would’ve lost if I had brought my whole knitting bag.
Packing a travel knitting kit is something you can do in advance. I travel a fair amount and I like to have a little travel bags pre-packed and available for airplane knitting. It’s my way of being prepped for travel and simultaneously shopping in my own stash. My in-flight knitting projects are usually hats or armwarmers, with the occasional scarf thrown in for spice. And of course these little project bags are easy to grab any time I’m going to be standing in line or waiting and want something to do with my hands.
Build your own TSA-friendly knitting kit with:
- Heavy-duty freezer bags in 1 gallon size (or quart, if your project is very small.)
- Optional snack-size bags for even deeper levels of OCD.
All my knitting neuroses are carefully packaged for travel.
My airplane hat bag (above) contains:
- Enough yarn for a single hat
- 16″ circular needle and DPNs
- Pattern if needed. I wrote mine on a small card.
- Yarn needle
- Stitch markers
- Small scissors under 3 inches long, preferably with rounded tips (check the TSA website for updates and additional disclaimers about scissors)
- (Optional) crochet hook
If you want to be hyperorganized, put your tools (scissors, markers, needle, crochet hook) in a snack size baggie and drop it into the bigger bag. You are ready to fly!
This knitting is ready to fly!
