Leaving, On an Airplane

We're off to Ballarat for the weekend. I enjoy going, it's great to get away from home for a bit (although we both miss and worry about Frankie), but it does involve a plane trip, and one and a half hours without my knitting!!!
Logic seems to escape when it comes to knitting needles on a plane. In America, a country seemingly so uptight about security and terrorists, you can knit to your heart's content over those stressful flights. But here in Australia, sharp objects (and how sharp is any needle over 3mm really) have to be declared and put in your luggage. I'm going to test it to see if it extends to crochet hooks (completely different object in my view, nothing like a knitting needle), especially plastic ones. Otherwise I may have to resign myself to some alternative knitting. Knitty.com had an article in their last edition about finger knitting. So I bought myself some fugly acrylic fluff from spotlight (forgive me, for I have sinned) and will pair it with some... feathers yarn and maybe a third strand of whatever in my stash matches, and make myself a finger knitted scarf. Could be kinda cool, could be really nasty. Have to wait and see.
Alternatively I'm hoping to get up into the old suitcase that houses the other half of my stash, including some super super chunky yarn that looks more big hairy spider legs than yarn, and try hand knitting. I read this in the Australian Creative Knitting magazine a few years ago, and I bought the yarn last year when Lincraft had their special get rid of everything old super cheap sale. But do I really want a really loose shawl? I'll see if the yarn still grabs me when I get the suitcase down.
The other thing hiding in that suitcase that I want to get my hands on before the trip to Ballarat is some lovely handspun, hand-dyed chunky wool that is just begging to be made into some thick house socks/slippers, and a long beanie. When temperatures average 10 degrees C, then I'm glad I'm a knitter. And my lovely cable beanie cannot be pulled down far enough to keep me warm. (Some days I try to get it to keep my nose warm!)
And on the beige blankie front, I casually mentioned to mum that I was knitting this thing to get rid of all my beige/brown yarn that was breeding in the stash, so she decides to offload some of her stuff onto me! So now I have enough yarn for a second blanket. Out of most of the balls there isn't enough yarn to do one round, so I figure if I make this next one in several small panels I'll have enough of the same colour in large blocks.
Today at work I took Denise's pair of Fetching with me. So nice and warm, and no mouse hand frost. Nothing worse than sitting at a computer all day, using mainly the mouse so you have one toasty hand which can be shoved under thighs, under armpits, or around the coffee mug, and the other one so cold and blue you can barely click with it. And forget about scrolling.
Hmm, maybe I should design the geek's mouse mitt for cold hands. Ideas forming.
Thanks to Denise for the spell check.

Amendment:
To amend everything I have said about knitting needles not being dangerous, I have done something really, really, really stupid.
I managed to stab myself with a knitting needle this morning, and more than just a bruised point under the skin. I up-ended our tin of dpns on the floor to find one, and lent forward into a small (I think it was a 2.5mm) dpn needle. I don't know how far it went it, but it hurts to walk. I have a puncture hole just above my knee. Thankfully my tentanus shots are up to date.
Maybe karma is out to get me for complaining too much about needles not being sharp and dangerous.
So to amend my idea, you have to be really strong (or really stupid) to be able to do damage with a knitting needle, and really only under a certain size anyway.