Sweetness and Light

With raw rainy weather outside, this is pretty much the perfect solution inside.

Update: I've been getting a lot of emails and comments about this post since it was featured on Pinterest and other sites — this chunky knit throw was originally from anthropologie, but is no longer available. If you'd like to make your own, you can source similar chunky yarns, oversize knitting needles and other supplies by doing a search on etsy.

(from anthropologie, via pinterest)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

Icons of an Era: Classic Chair Designs
Fun slide show on Phaidon's Agenda blog of iconic chair designs, from Thornet's influential 'bentwood chair', No. 14 (1859), to Chair_One (2003), by Konstantin Grcic, the world's first die-cast aluminum chair-shell.

Museum Postcards
A fascinating short movie/installation by artist Oliver Michaels, where museum postcards alternately intone, grumble, observe — or offer directions. Via things magazine.

Books of the Year
The Guardian asked some very distinguished writers (AS Byatt, Julian Barnes, Richard Ford, Roddy Doyle and Jeanette Winterson among them) which books they most enjoyed this year. Great ideas for holiday reading.

Why I Feed My Guests Canadian Food
A Canadian expat writes amusingly about how, after years of living in Paris, she realized that her French guests found Canadian food much more exotic and interesting than the French menus she attempted (with varying degrees of success) in an effort to please.

NPR Music's 50 Favourite Albums of 2010
Looking for Christmas gift ideas for a music lover? Check out this wide ranging list of 2010 faves that NPR music has assembled — there's sure to be something for everyone.

Craft Works
The Guardian visits three influential British designers who use the traditional skills of craftsmen and women to shape the way we live.

Holiday Books
More favourite books of 2010, this time from Design Observer contributors — heavy on design, typography and art (naturally), plus lots of great suggestions for fiction, poetry, biography and history, too.

Holiday Cookies From Around the World
Saveur magazine asked pastry chef Nick Malgieri to share a few of his favorite Christmas cookie recipes from around the world — add some variety to your holiday baking with Austrian vanillekipferl, Norwegian krumkakes and dulce de leche filled Argentine alfajores among other delectable treats.


(photo by Belen Imaz from French by Design via pinterest)

Happy Hanukkah!

Wishing automatism readers who celebrate it a very Happy Hanukkah. May it be filled with family, friends — and good food like these delectable Nutmeg Doughnuts, too!


(photo by Todd Coleman for Saveur)

Handmade Holidays

A pretty alternative to the usual greenery wreath — this one, made using vintage family photos. You could use Christmas cards, too. From Country Living — check out more great wreath ideas from them here, too. Via decor8.


(photo by Victor Schrager)