Some like it hot...

I do. Which is why I’m thrilled to introduce the newest (and perhaps in these days, my favorite) member of the family.

I don’t want to jinx anything but…she WORKS!!! It’s the most amazing thing - you put a little wood in her, add a lit match and the bedroom warms up. Unbelievable. The room doesn’t even fill up with smoke. Incredible. Many thanks to brother-in-law Kevin whose generosity and muscles helped get it into our house. It’s a Jøtul…which you understand the importance of if you are one of the Danes, or a freezing American couple living in a drafty old Italian country house and finally have a wood stove that cranks out the heat.

These don’t.

Nope - hand-knit, cabled alpaca socks definitely don’t like heat. Not even a little. They aren’t so fond of the spin cycle either. My dear husband might be dead for having ruined a SECOND pair of hand-knit alpaca socks if it weren’t for some of the other little nice things he adds to my life (like the Jøtul, for example). But Pally can think twice if he thinks he’s getting these

that are almost finished and were almost his until the washing machine incident.

Speaking of socks… check this out! The Stitch Style books are out

and LOOK!

My pattern made it on the cover of the sock one! I feel almost like the Yarn Harlot with all that fame I’m experiencing.

One last bit of randomness - If any of you have been terribly worried about us surviving the "biggest strike" of transport in Italy, don't worry. Maberga was relatively unaffected.