Currently Inked: March 2016

Over the past couple months I've found that I have a hard time keeping track of what ink I have in each of my inked pens. It probably doesn't help that I could have up to 15 pens inked at any point in time. (Addiction, what addiction? Seriously, though, paring down the number of inked pens I have is a post for another day and is not something I'm ready to tackle yet).

Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to track my pen and ink combinations each month in a central place. This central place will now be a Tomoe River Notebook bound by Coach House Press for Wonderpens in Toronto. It was easy to select this notebook because I love using Tomoe River paper, and, Wonderpens did a good job making notebooks from this paper. The notebook is A5 sized and contains 64 pages covered in light card stock, staple bound and is very light and easy to carry around.

Towards the end of February many of my pens emptied out needed to be cleaned and re-inked. Hence, I thought it would be interesting to write about my thought process on pen and ink combinations.

HOLDOVERS (In order of appearance in line-up)

Pen: Franklin-Christoph 66 Stabilo Matsyama Needlepoint
Ink: Sailor Jentle Yama Dori

Pen: Lamy Al-Star LE Blue Green F
Ink: De Atramentis Edgar Allan Poe

Pen: Edison Nouveau Premiere-Lilac EF
Ink: Diamine Amazing Amethyst

The most notable in the holdovers is actually the FC. I had eye droppered it for the first time in January. It was the first time that I had filled any pen by eye dropper so it was a proud accomplishment for me as novice fountain pen user. It was actually very easy to do and I never had issues with ink leakage. The only 'issue' per se is that the cavity of the pen is quite large so it handles a LOT of ink. Coupled with the neddlepoint nib, this has meant that the ink has lasted a LONG time. No joking. I think I still have 1/3 of ink left.

NEW (In order of appearance in line-up)

Pen: Lamy 2000
Ink: Private Reserve Grey Flannel
I like to keep grey or black inks in this pen. I find the Grey Flannel to be more flannel (if that's even a colour) than grey.

Pen: TWSBI Diamond 580 - Orange EF
Ink: Lamy Blue
I had to fill this from something blue in a bottle (as opposed to ink sample). I kind of defaulted to Lamy Blue because this ink hasn't been used in a long time.

Pen: Lamy Al-Star LE Copper Orange 1.1
Ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo
I wanted something vibrant and with sheen.

Pen: Namiki Vanishing Point Raden Galaxy
Ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Shin Kai
This is my proper work pen combo.

Pen: Kaweco Brass Sport EF
Ink: Noodlers Habanero
I thought this crazy shading ink would be a good match with the brass pen body.

Pen: Omas Ogiva Alba Orange EF Extra Flessibile
Ink: Omas Turquoise
Back to trying Omas inks in my one and only Omas pen.

Pen: Lamy Studio Wild Rubin 14k EF
Ink: Sailor Jentle Oku Yama
I always like to use something red in this pen.

Pen: Platinum 3776 Sai 14k M
Ink: Sailor Jentle Shigure
New pen and new ink that arrived in the same order so I tried them out with each other.

So how many pens do you have inked up for March? What are your favourite pen and ink combos?