Lizard Toes and A New Needle

The toes on these little guys are all bullion stitches, some of them requiring over 30 wraps!  I wanted to stitch them with one continuous stitch, but it was really awkward to do these long bullions with a regular tapestry needle.


Thanks to a random phone request, I discovered Sashiko needles, made by Clover.  Has anyone ever heard of these?

Sashiko is a form of Japanese  folk embroidery ,using a basic running stitch through several layers of fabric, to create a patterned background.  The needles are very long (over 2") and have a large oval eye.  They have a sharp point, but a few stabs are a small price to pay for being able to make these bullions long enough to curve into toes.