From "Falling Star" by Philip Chen

Mildred, a sweet old Norwegian grandmother has just gotten off a plane in Washington, D.C. -

The unseen foe tightened the garrote.  Mildred drew upon strength she had forgotten she had to combat her attacker.  Frantically kicking backward with her high heels, Mildred tried to find a vulnerable spot.  Her efforts to break free of the death grip were ineffective and her strength started to wane.  Mildred's attacker was too well positioned to be pushed off.  The attacker exerted maximum power, tightening the garrote while avoiding Mildred's flailing legs.

Mildred was dragged into one of the toilet stalls, powerless to resist the backward pull of her assailant.  Desperately, Mildred's right hand raced through her straw bag, searching, hoping, struggling to find the knitting needle.  As Mildred's mind started to cloud from pain and the lack of oxygen, she found and gripped the special knitting needle, a number 10.

With one desperate swing, Mildred's right hand jammed the needle into the soft area under her attacker's sternum.

As soon as the tip of the knitting needle, which had been modified by DARPA, the think tank research agency of the Department of Defense, penetrated the attacker's abdominal cavity, the chemical pellet stored in the tip was released.