Double Broad Nib and Sparkly Blue Ink
Current desk status = chaos
It’s always fun when a pen and ink combo is an unexpected surprise, either because it’s new or it’s something that was already in the collection being given another try. Or a combination thereof.
My newest pen is my Kaweco x Galen Leather Sport Carmine that came right at the beginning of May. I hemmed and hawed about buying it with a custom nib, but ended up just sticking with the standard broad. I had planned on swapping nibs anyway to make it my new header pen. I’ve been using a Kaweco Sport Macchiato with a 1.5 stub nib for that purpose for at least a year if not longer. I originally swapped that nib into the Carmine when I got it, but the silver color clashed a bit so I went back to my nib stash.
I eventually settled on trying out my 14K BB ‘journaler.’ I’d acquired the nib on Ebay last year and got it ground at the 2023 Chicago Pen Show by Custom Nib Studio. It’s a great nib and grind, but it’s wide. I love BB, but it’s not all day, everyday nib for me. As a result, this nib was usually hanging out waiting to be used. I swapped it in the Carmine to test it out for uncial lettering, and it worked great. I know that it seems strange to put a $100+ nib on a less than $50 pen, but it wouldn’t be the first time for me and it won’t be the last. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this nib for headers ages ago. It looks epic in the pen, feels great on the page, and due to the more forgiving stub grind it’s not unpleasant to write long form when the mood strikes. For example, I drafted this blog post with this pen. It’s been great to find another use for this nib in my collection.
Somehow, there’s always a cat hair in the picture somewhere…
On the ink front I struggled to decide what I would make my header color for June. It was going to be a tough act to follow with how much fun Diamine Rainbows End was in May.
I stared at my ink shelves for a while (as us ink addicts do) and my eyes landed on Ferris Wheel Press Unfettered Flight (at the time of this post it is sold out at FWP, but is also available at FWP retailers like Atlas Stationers - you can save 10% with the code DIME10). It is part of the Swan Ferritales collection that came out at the beginning of this year. Like the rest of the Ferritales collections it has a foiled design, in this case with swans in flight. All of the inks in this set had a base color combined with pink shimmer. With my current wild color scheme, some pink shimmer wouldn’t seem out of place.
The view from the desk of part of my ink shelves. Not a bad view, huh?
FWP Unfettered Flight is a light blue for the base color. I’d briefly inked it up in a medium nib a few months ago, but wondered how it would look in my wider nibs. I would like to report that it looks lovely. The mix of the delicate blue with the pink is making me smile whenever I see it on the page. The shimmer does need to be agitated from time to time, but the flow has been pretty consistent and starts writing when I uncap the pen. While Knitted Nettle is still my favorite from this set (a dark green with pink shimmer), I am very much enjoying this delicate ink in a pen-nib combo that is just too much fun. It’s gracing my journal entries and subject headers and I look forward to using it all month!
Currently Inked
Colorverse Cat’s Eye Nebula - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - A sample I’d gotten a while ago and hadn’t tried (but did give a fill to a friend). This is a shimmer ink, but my sample didn’t have enough shimmer in it to show up well. That begin said, the light green base ink has great shading! Used up the rest of my sample with this fill.
Vinta x Enigma Stationery Palaisipan - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye M stub - Next entry in my turquoise exploration. Very close to Monarca Mar Caribe that I used last week, but a shade bluer and with blue shimmer. The shimmer is very fine and it’s been showing up inconsistently. I have an entire page in my notebook where this ink looked like blue glitter and then a shimmerless ink on the next. I’ve had this experience before with Vinta shimmers, so I’ll have to keep experimenting.
Diamine Moon Beam - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - With the recent release of the large bottles of the Inkvent purple edition, I wanted to revisit some of the colors that I played with in December. Moon Beam is a dark gray with blue shimmer. I think I might have become quite spoiled with the Wearingeul shimmer grays (like Anubis and Othello), because I can’t help but compare this ink to them. Moon Beam is very pretty, but not terribly unique. However, like all Diamine shimmers it behaves really well.
Diamine Communication Breakdown - Kaweco liliput copper 14K M ‘selvedge’ - This ink has been in my collection a LONG time. I think this was a German exclusive, made when sheening inks felt pretty revolutionary and still kind of hard to get. This ink is dark red, no shading with green sheen where the ink pools. Writing with it, I can see why I’ve kept it, it’s a really good shade and fun to write with.
The bank paper in this Takasago notebook is so much fun to write on.