The Missonis make things.  Fabric and clothes and food.  (For the short list.)

And a rainbow of breadsticks.  (What could make me love bread better than being able to pick my favorite color?  Nothing.)

I am always wondering what my children notice, what they will take away.

And when I saw these images I just thought, “What an amazing way to grow up.”

Entrenched, enveloped, in love with color.

All images via Bon Appetit; photography by Alexia Silvagni.  I saw them in Mr. Blandings’s issue and mentally filed them away until I saw images of the Missoni homes in Bazaar today.  My new desire for neutral backgrounds is making my need for color to pop up other places.  Like here.

Part of the fun of last week was seeing a preview of the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse.  There are many, many lovely rooms, but one of the ones that rocked me back on my heels was Amanda Nisbet’s room which featured walls adorned with her Positano silk in the Kumquat colorway.*  Pow.   If you are in the city do make time to see the showhouse; it’s a home run.

*I remembered this wrong.  Nisbet used Pink Lemonade (I must block out pink.)  You can see the house here at the New York Times if you’re not over your limit.

Or more.  I don’t need mugs with infusers as I prefer strong, black coffee, but the three color ways above are available with or without.

The lid is so handy.  I sometimes carry my coffee into the bathroom while I shower.  My low-rent self, lacking a knobbed-top, places a jar of cream atop my cup to keep it hot.

This seems a better solution.  At $3.50 a cup you’re still ahead of carry-out with its paper and plastic.  (Be warned that they are a shocking $6 with the infuser.)

Fans of blue and white can really score.  Sad to say, though I prefer the shape, I might have a harder time ordering “straight bottom” over “slim bottom.”  Seems one should at least be able to have one on one’s cup.  From Pearl River.

We have been away, and while we were gone the paint for Mr. Blandings’s study arrived.

The mornings at the beach were cool, the water calm.  It was a banner year for dolphins.  The promise of dolphin sightings could make me do nearly anything.  If you could promise me a monthly dolphin sighting in exchange for balancing my checkbook, I would vary nary a penny.

Along with gallons of Calke Green (top), an almost-armful of samples arrived as I ponder the fate of walls and ceilings and doors.

Light Blue, Parma Gray, Dix Blue, Borrowed Light and Skylight, sit, able and well-bodied soldiers battling for attention with a pile of bills and mail.

Even on my screen, these colors don’t resemble the hues in the cans.

But later today I will begin to swatch and swipe and stand and consider.

Always intrigued by quilts and hooked rugs and needlework, I’ve been focusing lately on the patterns from other cultures and countries that feature similar shapes and patterns as traditional American crafts.

John Robshaw’s pillows offer a nice little case study on this subject.  (Are case studies still a thing in the working world?  We did a million of them back when I twisted into pantyhose five days a week.)

Robshaw’s handblocked designs have always showcased common shapes, but this latest collection features more embroidery and stitching.

You can find the pillow collection here.