I've attached a screen shot that says it all.
All I was doing was crafting out of soft leather hides...
This happens when you use needles on leather chaps.
This is a known issue in the game.
Here's an original link in the bug reports.
http://www.runerebels.com/smf/index.php?topic=2099.msg12919#msg12919 (http://www.runerebels.com/smf/index.php?topic=2099.msg12919#msg12919)
Fixed