"pins & needles"?

[sagehen]

 The evidence on "pins & needles" seems pretty conclusive and, hell, now
that I've had half a day to think about it, I realize that I've probably
used it in just this way myself.  "Tenterhooks" still seems more natural to
me, but clearly that has faded out of common parlance.  Tenterhooks, by the
way, are little hooks ranged along the side of a framework, as in a curtain
stretcher, to hold material taut.
A. Murie