The start of December brings with it the return of Diamine’s wonderful inkvent calendar. 25 custom inks, each themed to capture aspects of the holiday spirit. Fun times.

I’ve decided to craft my own inkvent challenge to commemorate my first year celebrating Diamine’s fun ink collection. And in a way that avoids spoilers for those who wish to patiently await daily reveals. Like I do!

The core of my currently inked remains consistent for a third week. I believe I’ve stumbled onto to two axes of balance. One is a balanced color palette — and one that is afield from my normal color combinations. The other is the balance of pen sizes and cap styles. Let’s unpack that.

This week’s currently inked rolls onward with last week’s large pens. All six remain inked. Plus one: the Visconti Homo Sapiens Silver Age.

This week’s six-piece arrangement lives well within my comfort zone. The inks are all cool or unsaturated tones. And nibs share a healthy 1-3 split across regular EF and ground shapes. Ok: so I’m in more than one comfort zone.