Pages

▼

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Unusual Uses For Knitting Needles - Giveaway and Linky

Have you ever had to put your knitting needles to an interesting or unusual use? This is my son who borrowed my needles to extract some snails from their shells in France. They did seem perfect for the job.


One of the reasons I find these pictures so funny are that he used to be the fussiest eater ever, but suddenly seems completely up for trying anything new. We also cooked scallops and mussels on our holiday, both of which he wolfed down. Although I like shell fish, I couldn't quite face the snails, so he had the lot.

I expect you will also notice the broken arm. He now has his cast off. Hubby is hard at work cooking something that is not snails in the back ground.


So if you have ever used your knitting needles or crochet hooks for anything unusual or a bit whacky then let me know. I was thinking I would give a prize for the strangest or funniest use. Given my photos I think the prize will be one of my knitted spiral shells. 


No limit on where you live, and I will announce the winner on 30th September. So to enter you can either leave a comment on my post, or on my GinxCraft Facebook page, or even better write a post about it and link it below. I have not done a linky page, so this is a bit of an experiment for me with the software. 

 Let me know any of the above ways, and I have decided to let my son be the judge of the winner or winners!


Also apologies for the change in look of my blog. I somehow wiped the setting when doing the linky code, and although I have tried to reconstruct it, have not quite managed to get the same look. Perhaps I was due for a bit of a change.

I am also linking these shots to Saturday Snapshot at West Metro Mommy. Although I know most of you aren't knitters or into crochet, I thought you might find these pictures funny.
at

21 comments:

  1. Max3 September 2013 at 08:08

    They made a bloomin marvellous leg scratcher when i had a cast on my leg, i can still remember how good it felt to final scratch the itch, and that was 15 years ago!
    Snails, yikes! My chooks love 'em though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. jusaweecatnap3 September 2013 at 20:30

    I can understand how you would be put off by snails, but I started eating them as a kid, like your son, and they're actually really good. It's the sauce that is so appealing. Now I can't deal with rubbery oysters...
    I was going to mention my funny, rather embarrassing use for crochet hooks, until I read that your son would be the judge. Never mind. Other than that, I use them for all sorts of mundane poking, prodding, pulling jobs, but can't think of any at the moment. Anyway, sweet knitted snail; love the coloring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Heather4 September 2013 at 03:15

    Snails are not something that I could get into - lobster, mussels, clams, pretty much anything else besides snails :-) I often use my sock dpns for random non-knitting things. I think mainly because I know they won't break :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yarn Changer4 September 2013 at 08:48

    I love those shells. Not sure why but i use my needles just for knitting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hazels Crochet4 September 2013 at 11:12

    I couldn't imagine using my hooks for anything else :)

    Not sure I could ever try snails......

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4 September 2013 at 11:39

    Maybe not the funniest, but definitely nifty: If my wrist hurts and my regular fabric brace isn't enough I have been known to stick some firm dpns in to help keep my wrist straight.
    I have also used some dpns in a game of mikado! The metal ones are especially tricky!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gertie5 September 2013 at 01:53

    I've used knitting needles to unblock sinks before - and I did use one once to unblock a loo!!! I hasten to add that needle was chucked away afterwards...

    ReplyDelete
  8. ...:M e d h a:...6 September 2013 at 05:58

    Hmm...Snails make me go 'ew' too. Apparently my husband has had them, and didn't care much for them. I use DPNs and hooks to hold a casual updo in place sometimes. My bamboo ones looks so like pencils I once picked one up and absentmindedly tried to write with it. The bugger wouldn't write, of course! I hope your son's arm is healing fast. My DH broke his arm three weeks ago...painful! He has tried to use a needle to scratch under his cast, but I said 'NO' very firmly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cathy Johnson6 September 2013 at 06:07

    My son (the older one) wouldn't touch anything "unusual", I wonder if one day he might also turn into a snail gobbler... me, I'll stick to my vegies ;) hmm, what do I use my knitting needles for? I made a supported spindle out of a DPN with some polymer clay as a whorl, it spins pretty fast, shame I couldn't quite grasp the technique tho. Btw, it's fascinating reading all the comments above, might keep some for future reference ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kathryn Ray6 September 2013 at 15:57

    I can't say that I've used my needles or hooks for anything other than their intended purpose, but I love this post and these comments. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Christmas Pie Crafts7 September 2013 at 00:11

    A lovely post and sadly I do not crochet so cannot think of anything unusual for my needle. I love the spiral shell. Hope you have had a good week.

    Jill, Christmas Pie Crafts

    ReplyDelete
  12. Louise7 September 2013 at 03:02

    Funny how they will eat strange things without blinking at times. I had one snail, just one, on a first visit to France. It was gross. I fully understand why you weren't keen too. Your knitted snail is fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz7 September 2013 at 03:49

    I wish I knew how to knit. It looks very fun!

    My son was always a picky eater. He hasn't morphed yet like your son into a brave soul, but you offer hope.

    Here's my Saturday Snapshot!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anne@HeadFullofBooks7 September 2013 at 07:41

    I've never eaten snails, I think I'd be with your husband cooking something else. Ha! I really like your knitted shell.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Laurel-Rain Snow7 September 2013 at 08:19

    I don't knit, so haven't had the occasion to use the needles for anything at all, but what a fun project! I hope you'll share some of the answers.

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mari7 September 2013 at 09:01

    That is awesome that he likes them. Pretty funny, though, that he needed your needles. DPN? :)
    Let's see, my 2 year old finds lots of crazy uses for my needles…drumsticks, cat torture device. The hubby has used one for detangling the brush on our Roomba. Yuck.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7 September 2013 at 13:12

    He's a very brave eater! I think I'd be a little wary of using those needles for knitting again, though...maybe after a good wash! I love your knitted shells too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. WonderWhyGal8 September 2013 at 04:07

    That is too funny! I'd never have thought of using my needles for dinner. I have one of my DPN in the drill right now. It's the perfect size for my weaving spool to sit on so I can wind it faster than by hand.

    On my very first spinning wheel, there was a clicking. We found that a pin was missing so a metal straight needle was used and cut. Never made another sound.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Unknown13 September 2013 at 13:37

    We used to use crochet hooks to dress spider crabs..I mean getting the meat out of the legs, not clothing crustaceans! I have a habit of sticking needles into my hair, which is Ok as long as I remember where they are. I broke a needle yesterday as I was scratching my back-it was a vintage pin, too :(

    ReplyDelete
  20. Vivian13 September 2013 at 16:44

    Soon after I arrived in America Woolworth went out of business. At one of the final sales my mom and I scored a big box of straight knitting needles for some obscene low price. A few months later we got a booth in the flea market to sell my mom's beaded jewelry, and we put out the box of needles for $0.50 a pair. One day a man came and looked at all the sizes, picked two pairs, said his display broke and "these seem to be the right size to hold it up". When he was leaving he thanked us for the "chopsticks". We are Chinese, of course it made perfect sense if we sold two long sticks they had to be chopsticks!

    ReplyDelete