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............. . ."She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight" Proverbs 31:13 NAS


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Festival of Broken Needles

February 8 in Japan is the Festival of Broken Needles. It is a day to honor our used needles. Apparently in Japan the used needles are placed in tofu in the temple and released down a river. I don’t have any tofu, nor would I like to place these in the river, but I do have a system which I will tell you about in a bit. First a little background and Susan over at Plays with Needles explains it much better than I on her Feb 7 post.

The Festival was also a recent topic by Carol-Anne over at Stichin fingers.  I like her idea of spending time doing something with our needles or something related to them such as  organizing them, making a needle book, etc.  This is great if you don’t happen to have any used needles ready for disposal.  

I heard of this festival many years ago and saved any “bad” needles in an old prescription bottle for disposal. I remove the prescription label, keep the child proof cap on and put on a new label or mark it  “Bad Needles”. Problem was I never knew the date or details behind the event! Well now I know, and I happen to have some broken needles, so today I will ceremoniously dispose of the bottle and start a new one.  Here is the bottle before I thank them for their service and toss them in the trash.
So today honor your needles that make it possible to create our beloved needlework projects and please dispose of them properly. Did I ever tell you I was the safety officer at work?

2 comments:

Christine said...

How fascinating!
In Elizabethan times broken needles were placed in small bottles, along with various things too unpleasant to mention, and buried underneath houses as a protection charm.

Peggy Lee said...

Well I learned something new today! I have never saved my broken needles. Maybe I will start.

When my son was little I was the crossing guard in front of his school. Those mornings were SO cold! I'll be thinking of you.