n.,
pl. 3wives# 73wjvz#; for 2, usually huz4ivz8 5ME houswif, huswif6
1 a woman, esp. a married woman, whose principal occupation is managing a household and taking care of domestic affairs
2 a small sewing kit

In the Viking etymology site I found:

hussif n. A case for needles and thread etc. Scan. The final /f/ is due to confusion with housewife. Ice
húsi (a case).

more likely a usage error, if error at all:

housewife 3. Usually ("hVzIf). A pocket-case for needles, pins, thread, scissors, etc. (In this sense still often spelt huswife, hussive.)
1749 P. Skelton Deism Revealed viii. (T.), Women+spending their time in knotting, or making an housewife. 1762 Sterne Tr. Shandy V. xvi, To bring whatever he had to say, into so small a compass, that+it might be rolled up in my mother's housewife. 1768 I Sent. Journ. (1775) I. 112 (Temptation) [She] without saying a word, took out her little hussive, threaded a small needle, and sewed it up. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xv. 158 He placed a little silken huswife in her trembling hand. 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey x. 54 She drew a thread of silk from the housewife. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. C.'s Lett. I. 161 She tried anxiously all her ‘hussives’, boxes, drawers.


(OED2)

Bill, your housewife is a new word for me, and I really like tsuwm's citation that shows hussive. That's a terrific old word, isn't it? It seems to contain the business, hustling, and liveliness of the home as a hive--hussive burns with energy.

I mentions husbands here only as an aside. When I was in college, there was a big pillow that was shaped like the stuffed upper half of an easy chair (or Lazy-Boy) that I heard girls refer to as their husbands. I have no idea whether this was a term restricted to my campus, or a generic term for such a pillow.

I'll look it up later, but thought I'd mention it here in conjunction with your needles 'n' pins housewife.