Mitochondria....

Wisteria Beaded Gloves & Socks from Le Tissier

I was given two books as Christmas gifts (along with other lovely things which I will share later). The books are "Click" by Ori and Rom Brafman and "Split-Second Persuasion" by Kevin Dutton. Well, I am half way through the persuasion book and I have come across a word that is a new word for me - "mitochondria" or cell power - actually more correctly the power sources of cells. The mitochondria extract what they need from the body and convert it into energy needed by the cells.

Cold Harbour from Woolly Wormhead

I love new words! and this one is a mental and linguistic tongue-twister. In fact, it must be quite new. It is not in my shorter Oxford English Dictionary or said dictionary is a little old. Hmmmm. Anyway the author, Kevin Dutton, is British and the book is a pop-psychology book, so I guess they(editors) are allowing a few more than their usual slate of 300 or so words that are the only words to be used when writing a book!

The publishing industry obviously takes a dim view of the intelligence of the reader - insisting that writers always write "down" to them.  I really must read more 19th century literature.  The vocabulary of Dickens, the Brontes et al was so much richer.

Pinafor from Goddess Knits

I spent sometime thinking of the mitochondria of knitting.  If the knitted cell is the stitch - either knit or purl - which is in fact the same stitch depending on which side you are on - of the knitting that is - then what is the mitochondria? What is it that takes from the yarn what it needs to give power to the cell/stitch.  Is it the design? - instructions that say, twist this, skip that, red here, black there.  Or are our hands really the mitochondria? Is it the knitter that actually empowers the stitch by creating it.  Subtle differences, but it's always good to look at your artistic work from a different perspective occasionally.


Dinner to-night? For most of us it will be left over turkey. For those who ate out, maybe just a boiled egg, you may have eaten enough for 2 or 3 yesterday.

Pictures - knitting with some stellar mitochondria at work.