On the eighth day of Holiday Ink, we have Cultpens Deep Dark Blue. If you have a hankering for ultra-saturated, ultra-dark inks, Diamine makes a series of Deep Dark inks for Cultpens in the UK. Deep Dark Blue is a velvety, deep indigo, and is especially nice in extra-fine nibs.
Parker Vacumatic Maxima with fine nib. This week has turned out to be “fancy pen week” for me, because this is my most blingy pen. It’s a Vacumatic Maxima in Emerald Pearl, and it just shines.
The Maxima is the second-largest Vacumatic, and it’s the perfect size for me. This one was a birthday present from my parents, and so it is both my first and last Maxima. There wouldn’t be another I could like any better or would choose to use instead of this one.
The ink is Diamine Tropical Green, a green with just the right amount of blue for me.
On the seventh day of Holiday Ink, I am going to pivot a little, and offer a non-standard green. Diamine Green/Black is not your typical Christmas green. It’s more of a subdued evergreen, a tertiary shade that brings to mind winter woods at dusk. Excellent in a fine or extra-fine nib, Green-Black may be my most-used green.
On the sixth day of Holiday ink, I’m going back to blue.
You know how most of us have holiday traditions? Our Christmas Eve features a traditional Swedish dinner. That’s how it was growing up, so that’s how it remains.
And in that same spirit, I am pulling out a longtime favorite blue ink, Aurora Blue. Happy holidays, to one and all. Bring out something that makes you feel connected to your family and your youth, and share it with friends and the next generation.
Do you ever need your fountain pen to write a bit narrower? Try flipping it over.
The photo above shows two Kaweco extra-fine nibs. You can see that there’s still a little tipping on the top, or reverse, of the nib, but it’s smaller and thinner. So the reverse of this extra-fine nib is an extra-extra fine.
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On the fifth day of Holiday Ink, I’d like to say “ho, ho, ho” with a very Santa-appropriate red ink. This is Stipula Calamo Florentine Red, just a lovely pure red. Florentine Red is not harsh, angry or demanding, but neither is it whispery. It’s an ink that cheerfully says Buon Natale.
For the fourth day of Holiday Ink, we’re returning to blue. This is Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, a lighter, cheerier shade of blue. December is warm for some lucky readers, and this is a nice beachy ink. Alas, December is not warm here, but Edelstein Topaz also makes a nice frosty blue.
Montblanc Heritage 1912 with broad nib. This is one of my best pens, I think. It’s a modern pen, but is based on the design of the Simplo Safety Filler, with a retractable nib and a more elaborate piston-filler than usual because the knob both operates the piston and retracts the nib.
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If there’s one thing the early history of the internet has taught us, it’s that everyone loves cute animal photos.
Let’s kick off the week, then, with this adorable hedgehog. My friend emailed me this — she set up a hedgehog feeding station in her yard.
My girls and I have named this little guy “Hedgie.”
On the third day of Holiday Ink, I am bringing out the green. This is a cheerful green, J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage, for the kid in all of us.
Fountain Pen Follies 