Fingernails as Fiber Tools

Last night I read that our fingernails are made up of flat, dense, dead cells that grow from specialized cells underneath and below our cuticles. As these cells move forward, they change and harden into a kind of protein called keratin. Human beings and most primates have fingernails. My author says that the main function of our nails is "to provide both a rigid backing and a protective carapace for the pulpy fingertip,...." He goes on to joke that people who bite their nails are depriving themselves of a "built-in tool kit of cutters, pliers, scrapers and screwdrivers." This makes me think of the way I use my nails as I pursue a variety of fiber crafts. My fingernails act as needle-nose pliers when I pick bits of seed and hay from wool that I am preparing to spin. It is also my nails that pinch out nubs from a yarn single in progress and create a smooth, finished yarn. When I crochet, I use my nails to tighten the starting knot after the first loop is on my hook and, often, I push a loop of a previous stitch out of the way with the tip of my nail as I pull a new loop through. This morning, while taking a stitch, I guided the point of my sewing needle up onto a fingernail to keep the point of the needle from catching in the knit fabric of a stuffed toy. I've gone from seeing my fingernails as something to constantly trim, to seeing them as my own specialized tool kit!