Pens Posted for Sale: I’ve added 18 pens to the For Sale page. I dug deep this time around, listing several former favorites and core pens. So, I’ll have to redo that listing.
A sample of the pens I’ve put up for sale
I’m still on my summer schedule, so today is a links only post.
Krys has been writing the Squishy-Ink blog since last year. While not exclusively ink reviews there’s a constant flow of them along with great, colorful photography. I’ve linked to it’s posts more than once and if you’ve never visited the site head on over there now.
She recently launched a Kickstarter for a hardcover notebook with 68GSM Tomoe River paper. It’s worth noting that 68GSM is slightly thicker than the more common 52GSM paper. I do have a notebook with 68GSM paper and it is still thin paper, just not as thin as the paper in my Seven Seas Writer, Crossfield or Hobonichi Techo. I’ve yet to actually use the 68GSM paper so I can’t speak to its properties. This will make the it thicker than the 480 pages in the Seven Seas Notebooks. I suspect the difference will be noticeable. (It’s described as 500 pages, this could mean 250 double-sided sheets but from the photos I’m guessing it’s 500 sheets.)
The notebook is called pocket A5 sized because it is a little shorter than A5 sized. There’s also a exclusive Robert Oster ink (after all, it’s from Squishy Ink) available as a reward called Hippo Purple.
The project has already burst through it’s goal, so it will happen. They’ve also reached all four stretch goals. There’s still a few days left to get early bird reward pricing and the campaign closes April 23rd.
I did back the project (notebook & ink), but it is Kickstarter so I feel compelled to mention there’s a risk especially since it’s her first project. In this case I’d guess the ship date (July 2017) is a bit too aggressive and I won’t see the rewards until after that. That said, I’ve no doubt they notebook and ink will be delivered soon after that and be of good quality.
My own writing was down this past week, although I did write one fountain pen dry after using it nearly a month. The remaining 10 are shown above.
This will be the final edition of Sunday Notes & Links. It’s gone on hiatus before, and I never say “never”, but my plan is that this is the last one. I’m not one who thinks bloggers need to explain what they do and why, but I’ve been doing these so long I figured I should mention it. The reason, in a nutshell, is that it’s time for a change. It may return in some form, but certainly not as a regular feature.
In related news, my FountainPen.Link Tumblr will no longer be a firehose of links, although it may get an occasional update.
A lot of fountain pen usage this week when compared to my normal week. I mixed up the usage among my 11 inked pens so none were written dry. A lot of planning and brainstorming using pen and paper in addition do my usual daily writing.
The Inaugural GNYPIG Meet-Up | From the Pen Cup // A great acronym and sounds like fun. My hopes went up briefly when I saw New York, but this is about as far from me as you can get and still be in NY.
It was an interesting week with fountain pens, at least when compared to other recent weeks. Early in the week I decided I wanted some variety but didn’t want to flush any pens. So I inked up six fountain pens to bring me to 12. It ended up being a messy day. No actual spilled ink but I had more ink on my fingers than anytime else in recent memory. I had more of a problem getting ink into the pens than on my fingers. But the problems didn’t end there.
The Sheaffer Balance Oversize from the DC show didn’t take in any ink, which I noticed the next day as the feed went dry. After experimenting with plain water I moved the pen to the repair queue. There must be a hole in the sac or a similar problem. Was I too aggressive cleaning it last time?
The second problem was with my Sheaffer PFM I with Montblanc Lucky Orange ink. The nib had been dry after spending the night nib up but flow would quickly returned after a few nib down moments. Then I left the pen flat on my desk for a day or two. The feed was all dry and crusty and more than gravity was needed to get it going. Rather than just wetting the nib to get it going I flushed it instead. I have a low tolerance for finicky pens these days. So inked pens quickly dropped to the 11 shown above.
Now I have to start using them.
Currently Inked Writing Samples
On to the links…
Pen Shows & Clubs
The Los Angeles pen show is going on this weekend. The show is open to the public from 10am to 5pm today (Feb 19th).
Thoughts On Organizing Your Journals – Recording Thoughts // I’ve never considered doing any organization (there than by date) since I have no reason to do so. But if you have a reason (or don’t, but want organization anyway) here are some ideas.
The Chronoswiss Styloscope by Pelikan « The Pelikan’s Perch // beautiful dark green. I also find it interesting that an extra nib was sold with the pen and that the carry case had a a way to properly carry the extra along with the pen and a small note pad.
