From the introduction: Long ago, there was a young weaver by the name of Stanmir. He wove beautiful blankets and tapestries for the people of Plovda, a small Lithuanian village. When someone in the village was sick, he would weave them a blanket or shawl as a gift. The threads of Stanmir’s present would glisten, like silk in the sunlight. Days later, the recipient would recover from their sickness, many illnesses of which the village doctor would claim as fatal. Some would say that his skill was a gift from the gods.