The Two Questions For My Trip

So, yay, I'm going to England! (happy dance) Can you guess the first two questions to cross my mind?

1. What to knit?
2. What to wear?*

*Not for the whole trip, so much as one not-so-casual event. What would you wear when you might meet one of the royal family? Of course I probably won't, but I think an event at which HRH will be present calls for a little forethought.

The answer to the second one is in hand. My friend and I are planning a wardrobe inspection, followed by a shopping trip (not the same day), about which I won't even say "if necessary", since I know that at the very least, I need new dress-up shoes that are comfortable. I'm pretty sure I have clothing that will do, but accessorizing may be called for.

The knitting, though, is complicated. Not the basic answer, since that seems (today) to be a simple one. What kind of project is small and portable? Socks. And since my stitch and bitch group is planning to road-trip to Webs next month for the Yarn Harlot's appearance, I expect I can find something fun to knit with (assuming I've finished the ones I'm doing now). (I've never been to Webs before, so I'm very excited to see its wonders for myself.)

However, there's the Heathrow issue. I had heard that they're more strict than US airports about permitted/prohibited items, and that knitting needles were not allowed at least at one time. But is it still true? I have Googled around, and gotten two answers:

1. Yes, needles are allowed, or at least not specifically prohibited.
2. No, needles are specifically not allowed.

So you can understand my confusion.

At www.heathrowguide.com/, the answer is yes. At both www.heathrow-airport-guide.co.uk/ and www.heathrow-airport-uk.info/, the answer is no. Then, www.heathrowairport.com doesn't specify knitting needles, but says that

Sharp or pointed items must not be carried in hand baggage and will be confiscated at security control.

though it then goes on to list examples, of which knitting needles are not one. (At least it's positive that I can't bring my catapult. Good to know.)

I've found blogs where people had needles confiscated by security, or let through security but confiscated on the plane, or where they've gone through both without trouble. It's very confusing.

And as far as I can tell, the UK does not have a TSA* equivalent to possibly clarify the situation. The mere fact that the rules differ at different airports in the UK throws me a little, though perhaps I should think of it as that they admit the rules are different at different airports, since travelers in the US find that rules can vary from one airport to the next, and in fact from one screener to the next.

*The Transportation Safety Administration has its flaws, but it does provide a nice list of what you may and may not bring, in carry-on and checked luggage.

I believe that I will be able to bring my knitting for the flight over (which is, of course, the one I would choose to give up if I could only knit on one flight, since I want to sleep through most of it). The return flight? Who knows. I did read advice on one blog about tucking your knitting into a small umbrella, which I may or may not do. (Apparently it confuses the x-ray; if asked, you can say that it's to protect the needles, and of course you weren't trying to sneak anything by security!)

Will it really be necessary? Are bamboo US size 1 or 2 needles really going to get taken away? Conundrum.