Safety Pins Are Crocheting Friends

    I have recently come to realize just how useful safety pins are when it comes to crochet.  I was working on a granny square tote bag and thought of pinning the squares together before stitching them together.  I found this method much easier than picking up a square and figuring out which side needed to be stitched to what side of another square as I went along.  Safety pins also make good row markers when working in the round, especially with single crochet.  The short stitches make it difficult for me to find where I started a row and often times I ended up working a spiral when I began the project with rows without turns.  In another recent project, a safety pin came in handy to mark where I had made a 3tog. single crochet decrease.  Though they are safety pins, I poked myself once enough to leave a mark on my finger, so be careful!  What are some other ways safety pins have come to your rescue when crocheting?