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.