Welcome to my blog.

After a few random posts I've decided to dedicate this blog to my life long project of Japanese food
and culture (and my life in general, especially my travels).

Since my first taste of sushi back in 1997 I've been interested in, and frequently been making
Japanese food.
My interest in the country and culture started long before and continues to evolve.
I was lucky to finally visit Japan in October 2008, again in November 2019 and hope to be back soon.
In July 2012 I visited Japantown in San Fransisco, the next best thing!
I was lucky to be back in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 thanks to the fact that we now have family living in California.
Both small and big adventures will from now on, as time permits, be shared with you.

I will post other recipes and pictures too, mainly cooking projects, plants and art projects
(including my new love - making kumihimo braided objects).

I hope you'll find it interesting, and feel free to leave a comment or ask questions!

I write mainly in English, but there will be some Norwegian too, especially posts about things
that mainly have Norwegian interest. Tutorials are bi-lingual.

Friday, 16 March 2012

Fredagsfavoritter fra Epla

I´ve made a list of light colored earrings from Epla.no, check it out:




Friday, 9 March 2012

Tutorial: Make your own spiral bracelet!


Kumihimo spiralfletting med 12 tråder - lag et armbånd
Kumihimo tutorial - spiral braid with 12 threads - make a bracelet

Du trenger til et armbånd (eller to barnearmbånd): 4 tråder i 1-1,5 mm tråd ca. 75 cm lange, i en, to eller fire farger, og 2 tråder ca. 150 cm lange (kantfargen). Flettingen passer i 8 mm endestykker.
Du trenger også: 2 endestykker 8 mm, en lås, en perle på perlestilk og 4-5 o-ringer 5 mm.

You´ll need for one bracelet (or two child size): 4 threads in mousetail size, aprox. 75 cm (2,5 feet) long, in one, two or four colors, 2 threads aprox. double the length (edge color).  It fits in 8 mm endcaps. 
You´ll also need: 2 endcaps 8 mm, one clasp, one pearl on a pin and 4-5 jumprings 5 mm.

Sett opp trådene som på det første bildet.
Set up your braid as in the first picture.



Her er startoppsettet. 
De 4 lengste trådene (røde på bildet) settes rett ut til høyre og venstre. De 8 trådene i midten settes slik at det er 2 ledige hakk mellom hvert trådpar øverst og nederst.
Start setup: The 4 long threads go to the sides, and the other 8 in the middle as shown above.



Den første tråden som flyttes er den nederste, innerste tråden til venstre. Flytt den opp på utsiden (til venstre) for de to øverste trådene til venstre. Fra 19 til 29.
Move the first thread: The inner, lower one goes up to the left of the upper left threads. From 19 to 29.


Den andre tråden som flyttes er den øverste, innerste tråden til venstre. Flytt den ned på innsiden (til høyre) for de to nederste venstre trådene. Fra 31 til 17. Flytteregle: Ned - opp - ytterst, opp - ned - innerst.
Move the second thread: The inner, upper thread (of the 3) goes down on the innside of the lower left thread. From 31 to 17. Chant: Down - up - outer, up - down - inner.


Nå flytter vi over på høyre side og tar den nederste, innerste tråden og flytter den opp på innsiden av de to øverste høyre trådene. Fra 15 til 1.
We´ll move to the right side and start with the lower, inner thread and move it up on the innside of the two upper right threads. From 15 to 1.


Så går den øverste, ytterste tråden til høyre ned til høyre for den nederste tråden til høyre.
Fra 3 til 13. Flytteregle: Ned - opp - innerst, opp - ned - ytterst.
Now, the upper, outer right thread goes down to the right side of the lower thread.
From 3 to 13. Chant: Down - up - inner, up - down outer.



Nå snur du fletteskiven 90 grader mot klokken slik at de to trådparene som var til venstre kommer rett ned.
Turn the braiding disc 90 degrees anti-clockwise. The longer side threads will be up and down now.


Flytt den venstre av de to nederste trådene opp til venstre for de to øverste trådene. Fra 25 til 7.
Move the lower left thread up to the left of the upper threads. From 25 to 7.


Flytt den høyre tråden av de tre trådene øverst ned til høyre for den nederste tråden. Fra 9 til 23.
Move the upper right thread down to the right of the lower thread. From 9 to 23.


Snu fletteskiven 90 grader mot klokken slik at du kommer tilbake til startoppsettet. Gjenta til armbåndet blir så langt som du vil ha det.
Turn the disc 90 degrees to get back to the start setup. Continue braiding until the braid is long enough for your project. 


Båndet vokser under skiven.
The braid grows under the disc.

Når du er ferdig med flettingen: Løsne båndet fra skiven og surr litt tynn ståltråd rundt endene.
Klipp av overflødig tråd og lim et endestykke på hver side. Sett på o-ringer på en side, og lås/ perle i en o-ring på den andre siden.

When you´re done braiding: Loosen the braid and secure the ends with some thin metal thread wrapped around all of the threads. Trim the ends and glue on two endcaps, one on each end. Attach jumprings to one cap and clasp + crystal with a jumpring to the other cap.



Her ser du to armbånd med pålimte endestykker, lås og perle.
Picture shows two bracelets with glued-on endcaps, clasp and pearl.


Resultatet! Disse armbåndene er flotte presanger til store og små jenter. Vi gir dem bort i barnebursdager med stor suksess. 
Final result! These bracelets make great birthday gifts for big and small girls. My daughter gives them away - great success!

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

More custom orders

I´ve been getting several custom orders lately, so I´ve been braiding a lot.
Two child bracelets were rush orders for a birthday party, so I didn´t even have time to take pictures of them! I´m planning to make more of them, they are popular birthday gifts for litle girls.


This is a foot chain in thin braid with sterling silver details. I hope the owner will wear it a lot this summer!



A friend wanted a thin, long bracelet to wrap twice around her vrist. I´m planning to make a variety of this, even longer, to wrap 3 times around and it can double as both a foot bracelet (two times around) or necklace.


This is a necklace made for someone who loved the bracelet I´ve made in this color/ pattern, but never uses bracelets. She wanted the 16 thread braid for a short chocker-style necklace instead.

Thursday, 1 March 2012

Kiju

Happy kiju dad!


I wish I was there with you today....

Your daughter L


Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Tofu box has arrived!


After travelling across the U.S. in a box, hand carried on a plane from San Fran to NL, my tofu box finally made the final stretch in a kangaroo trolley from NL to Norway yesterday.... my precious!


 Made of hinoki wood, it came with a sieve cloth and bag in white.


It´s very nice and it smells good too.


It also came with nigari, so today I have to get myself some soya and make tofu again.... stay tuned!


I also got this nice soya cup from my mother-in-law, bought in San Francisco. Very nice eggplant motive.


Monday, 20 February 2012

Sunday market / Søndagsmarked

Sometimes I pack all my braided jewelry into a trolley and go off to some marked.
Last weekend I went to Oslo to sell, chat with other designers and make new contacts at the design market at "Blå".
Weather was beautiful, sunshine and not too cold.

This is what my table look like:
 I´ve put a box under the tablecloth for hight. Then there´s some Japanese artifacts, like a cup and a wooden sake cup.

I´m wondering to get a black table cover and also some better displays for the bracelets, maybe a long tube?
Please hit me with good suggestions! I must be able to carry all my stuff in a trolley + maybe an extra bag. Sometimes I have a car, but most of the time I commute by public transport.
I´ve got a couple of frames spray-painted and chinaware to "serve" my bracelets on.
I still need an even better way to display them and make them look their best....

Å, ja: Husk "Håndlaga 2012" - jeg blir veldig, veldig glad for nominasjoner i kategori 5. Link på høyre side øverst.... :)

Saturday, 18 February 2012

Håndlaga 2012

Text in Norwegian only!

For andre gang går "Håndlaga" av stabelen og krysantemum design er med.
I år sponser jeg Håndlaga 2012 og har tenkt å nominere flotte produkter i
flere kategorier.
Jeg håper også noen vil nominere et smykke fra krysantemum design i kategori 5: "Smykker" og vil nok være ubeskjeden å gjøre det selv...

Jeg sakser fra bloggen til Håndlaga 2012 slik at alle kan bli inspirert,
og jeg oppfordrer alle design- og håndarbeidsglade til å delta.

"Med dette arrangementet vil vi feire det skapende og engasjerte miljøet av dyktige folk som legger tid og
omtanke inn i sine håndlagde produkter.
Det hele starter med at alle som vil kan nominere sine egne og andres håndlagde produkter.
Det blir åtte spennende kategorier som vi håper vil treffe de fleste; redesign, barn, klær, smykker, 
tilbehør, til hjemmet, bilde og menn.
Produkter til menn er en ny kategori i år!"


Trykk på linken til høyre her på bloggen for å komme til Håndlaga 2012.





Kjøp håndlaget!

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Happy Valentines day!

In the words of the magnificent Björk: All is full of love....


Lots of love from Linuz
♥


Saturday, 11 February 2012

Winter creativity

Custom flower bracelet with sterling silver details.

So I had the pleasure of braiding 2 custom orders this week.
One bracelet with flowers in strong colors and one necklace in soft lilac with dark lilac trim.

I´ve also been inspired by the cold winter weather, braiding in light, soft colors like white, aqua and mint.



Light winter colors. From left: Two shades of white (bracelet in 16-count braid with sterling silver details), aqua/offwhite bracelet, half made, and mint satin mousetail for the next project.
(Mint is the "hottest" color this season, I´ve heard.)


 Custom necklace in two different techniques;  hollow braid with the trim color as a core and spiral braid with 12 threads.

 Lilac necklace with sterling silver details and Swarovski crystal.

Monday, 6 February 2012

Tonkatsu - Sunday fastfood


Well, I didn´t know what to make of that piece of pork in my fridge...
so we ended up eating "fastfood" for Sunday dinner.
In other words, I turned it into tonkatsu, that´s Japanese for schnitzel. And who doesn´t like that?

Tonkatsu
You will need:
A decent piece of pork, your choice of cut.
Flour, 1 egg beaten and breadcrumbs (Panko) on separate plates.

Cabbage, cut into fine strips (and with some lemon juice and salt added).
Rice, boiled.
Tonkatsu sauce (Consists mainly of ketchup. I made mine with ketchup, soya, mirin and sweet soya).


Cut the pork in 1 cm thick slices. Pat lightly to even them.
Del ytrefilet av svin i 1 cm tykke stykker, klapp dem jevne.


Dip the pork in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, in that order.
Dypp i mel, egg og brødsmuler (jeg bruker japanske brødsmuler "Panko").


Make sure to push the pork well down into the breadcrumbs.
Dytt fileten godt ned i brødsmulene slik at det dekker godt.


Fry the pork in butter on both sides until nice and golden brown.
Stek i olje eller smør til de er pent brune på begge sider.


Serve with cabbage, rice and sauce. Some lemon is also nice. Enjoy!
Server med finsnittet kål, kokt ris og Tonkatsusaus (og sitron hvis du vil). Kos deg!