WSJ.com -- From the Archives Knitting needles, pointed metal sticks that average 14 to 16 inches long, can look particularly ominous. Ms. Smith remembers a man who seemed fascinated by her knitting during one flight, and finally commented, "You know, if we crash, you're going to impale yourself."

"Well," she replied, "If we crash, I won't care."

Still, she's mulled the potential danger of the dull-tipped tools. "You'd need something to pound it in with," she says. "And it would be a slow death."