Walk quietly, carry moody blue pens
I get another week at home to work on projects that I find personally valuable. Reading and recording commonplace notes: yep. Journaling my way through the ongoing history-making government hearings: yes. Researching water parameters and a list of plants for a new freshwater fishtank: you betcha.
Wide, round nibs are great choices for long sessions of writing and note-taking. A wide nib is forgiving as my mind eventually wanders away from writing form and into my own thoughts. Lines remain consistent and continue to flow well at my pen rotates over the course of a page-long writing session. Easy.
No surprise that five of this week’s nibs are round, reliable lines: 3 F and a Z (a pear-shaped B). No surprise that my inks do the talking this week. The week’s palette is heavy on sheen and shimmer: Walden, Schwarz Rose, Sabimidori and Koiame.
Taken together, all six of this week’s currently inked are quiet, contemplative pairings. Subdued teals carry my writing’s personality — or what my partner calls “the moody blues.”
Grey/Black
Parker Vacumatic Silver Pearl (F). Papier Plume Oyster Grey. My day-to-day calendar-keeping and task listing combo. Grey is also my primary color for recording reading notes and for recording direct quotes in my commonplace notebook. Oyster Grey shades strongly in this 1945 Parker feed. -Cool.- Vintage cool.
Blue/Teal
Kaweco Skyline Sport Mint (F). Kyo-no-oto Aonibi. My pocket carry for the week is this neat combination of mint green Kaweco and denim blue Aonibi. A stingy pairing — which helps to keep pocket notes from smearing. Beastly shading keeps writing fun. Also: reading notes, commonplace notes, and bullet journal.
Sailor Pro Gear Blue Train (Z). Taccia Ukiyo-e Sabimidori. Shading and sheen and multi-color shading from Sabimidori. Subtle line variation from the Zoom nib. A busy nib and ink pairing. Easily distinguishable from Oyster Grey — which makes this combo a great choice for reading notes. The wide lines suit also long journaling sessions and manuscript drafting.
Earth Tones
Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Black (SF). Organics Studio Masters of Writing Henry David Thoreau Walden Pond Blue. Pilot’s SF nib is a magnet. I keep reaching for this nib. It sits maps onto three of my sweet spots: a European EF line, a consistent writing line, and a large pen body. Walden’s sheen will make for fun notes and commonplace reflections.
Narwhal Schuylkill Chromis Teal (EF). Robert Oster Shake ’n’ Shimmy Schwarz Rose. Schwartz Rose was the first shimmer ink I tried that withstood the clogging issues that are part and parcel of inks with solids in them. The wet Bock nib will ensure plenty of rose gold glitter shows through Rose’s dark green. Fun for journaling. The thick lines also stand out clearly against Oyster Grey. So, also a strong commonplacing option.
TWSBI 580-ALR Prussian Blue (M Predator Hybrid, by Nibgrinder). Taccia Ukiyo-e Sharaku-Koiame. A neat looking combination of pen and ink. I need an accent pen that is both workable in narrow margins and in broader lines while journaling. The hybrid predator grind allows for both kinds of writing. A true two-for. Reading notes, commonplace notes, and journaling.
Wild Cards
I went with an earth-tone heavy palette this week. The greens and blues were a-calling. Purples remain on the sideline this week.
