I dropped a needle on a carpeted floor. I’ve been crawling around trying to find it, to no avail. Any ideas? Will a magnet pick it up? Or a magic needle-finding spell?
Get a flashlight and darken the room. Put the flashlight down at carpet level and shine the beam across the carpet. Get yer head down there and look for the glint.
Just walk around barefoot…works every time for me. ( I know you wanted a real answer - but I think Shark Sandwich already nailed it)
I agree, finding things on the ground is best accomplished by getting your eyeball as close to the ground as possible and looking for something sticking up higher than the rest of the ground. The flash light is a good idea to try too.
If that doesn’t work what I would do is get out my bagless vaccuum or shopvac and clean it out real well. Then thouroughly vaccuum the area and see if you get the needle in the container.
Could have been worse… could have been in the hay barn.
Some good ideas already. Get a vacuum with a hose. Put pantyhose over the end of the hose. Run the hose around the area you dropped it. The needle will be sucked up, but the pantyhose will prevent it from going into the vacuum.
A sufficiently strong magnet will help too.
You can also pull a pair of tights or pantyhose over your vacuum hose and suck it up that way.
Is this because you have kids or pets? If I spent any time looking every time I drop a needle…but I live alone.
Yeah, I just keep a pack of needles in the drawer beside my stitching spot. If I drop one, I spend maybe a minute looking and then I just grab a new one. Of course, needlepoint needles aren’t as sharp as sewing needles.
The kids have never “found” one for me by sticking themselves, but the needles do get stuck in the vacuum cleaner once in a while.
I believe most needles are still made of steel, so yes, a magnet will work. But it’d only work at very close range, unless it’s a very strong magnet.
Sure, it needs to be close, but if you can get ahold of a big magnet, you can cover the whole corner of the room very thoroughly (be very methodical) in under five minutes. I bet you find it.
And of course there is a sewing gadget for it!
http://crafts.benfranklin.com/MAGNETIC-PIN-WAND/M/B000W5GCCS.htm
I have found that toddlers are best at finding things that are dangerous to them. Especially if they just learned how to walk and are exploring more. They would find a needle in a haystack easily. And the pill you accidentally dropped 3 months ago and couldn’t find, and a steak knife that probably just appeared from another dimension…
Wait, this magnet is going to damage DVDs? Does the copy writer for this ad think DVDs work like cassette tapes or disc drives?
Do you have a cat? I lost a needle once and found it via xray at the vet’s office.
Well, thank you all for the advice. I don’t have kids or pets, but I though of borrowing some from friends to help me look. Then I decided the friends might not appreciate that.
Anyway, I gave up looking, because I didn’t really need it. Since then I’ve cleaned up the room, vacuumed, and shuffled around the papers on the desk I was using when I lost the needle. About 45 seconds ago I found it. On the desk. That I cleaned, and didn’t see it on. Go figure.
What are you working on with that needle, by the way, and how did it take me this long to ask?! 
Maybe I could send my father over. He always had a knack for finding my needles on accident (He also has a nice supply of magnets that might help too)
For those who seem to drop needles more often than they should and have trouble finding them (or want an excuse to buy a really neodymium powerful magnet):
A ring magnet would be perfect for this, because you can tie it on the end of a string. Perfect for retrieving metal bits from behind counters and such as well.
I was repairing a jacket in bed one night when I lost my needle. I could not find the thing, despite looking very hard. I finally shrugged my shoulders and went to sleep.
The next morning, when I went to sit down at breakfast, I felt an odd itch in the base of my spine. Reaching down, I found the needle half embedded in my flesh.
Since then, I don’t sew in bed anymore.