Breaking The Habit

Day 339: Like a vast number of people who sew, I have the bad habit of holding pins between my lips and teeth. I think I can recall from early childhood my grandmother telling me that was something I should avoid doing, but I persisted nevertheless until it became so ingrained that I could see no reason to change. Until recently, I failed to see a connection between sewing and cold sores, but since I have been machine-piecing quilt blocks for the last several months, a correlation has been making itself painfully obvious. I know that I react to many metals to the extent that I can only wear gold jewelry. Why would I not realize that steel against tender lip tissue might result in irritation? Pushed to it, I decided to make a wrist pin cushion with the intention to force myself to use it. As it turns out, the habit of putting pins in my mouth is not being difficult to break. Sometimes, Occam's Razor has to shave pretty close to the skin to get the point across.