Crafty Pat - maybe you'll want to try what I did. Take a steel wool pad and wrap it in two layers of cotton fabric and sew the folded seams so it's covered. Use it like a pin cushion for the needles that don't work well and they get a little sharper. I picked up this tip on Nancy Zieman's site.
Maybe you have steel wool pads in the garage like I did. If I didn't, I'd use a Brillo pad.