Apologies for skipping my planner organization and set-up for September but I have been so excited to start planning for October AND I get to start a new book as well. Double trouble! Double joy! Hope this makes up for it!
It’s been a long time since I’ve bought or used a simple black ink gel pen. I always seem to lean into funky colors or other kinds of pens. But I’ve found that I really like the kookiness of the Writech line of pens. They’ve released dual color multipens with two complimentary colors or a color + black. So, I went in search of other Writech products to try.
I stumbled across the Writech Cute Needle Tip Gel Pen (Pack of 4 0.5 mm with Black Ink) ($7.25 per set). The set includes four black ink 0.5mm needlepoint pens with four different pastel barrel colors. The barrels are two -tone in creamy soft shades to coordinate with your notebook or planner.
The pen is designed to have a silent knock mechanism which is fabulous. If you fidget in meetings, you will no longer annoy your neighbors. Win!
I love a needlepoint gel pen. I fell in love with the Pilot V5 Precise back in the 1980s which featured a liquid ink but had a glorious needlepoint tip. I haven’t really used one in years. I think the Writech gel needlepoint will be a grand upgrade.
The pen writes quite smoothly and the needlepoint tip makes it feel a little less broad than a cone tip 0.5mm tip which is great for me. This smaller tip means the ink dries faster and I’m less likely to smear. The black ink is deep and dark, part of what reminds me of those old-school liquid ink pens.
I really like the writing quality of these needletip pens. The shape of the barrel is great, the melted ice cream colors are very on-trend but not really my favorite hues. That’s probably the only downside for me. At the moment, this is the only barrel color option available for thees needletip pens. They aren’t ugly, just maybe too “cute” for me. I’ll use them though because the ink density and fine line is great.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I love to see other folks’ sketchbooks and notebooks. I love to see a beautiful but REAL sketchbook. I like the variety of ink testing and landscape sketches and Claudia @The_Cloudy_Desk has a beautiful balance of both.
Look! A Platinum Preppy!!!
Now, I’ll let Claudia of Cloudy Desk tell you a bit about themself.
Hi, I’m Claudia aka The Cloudy Desk (they/she), because who doesn’t love sitting at their desk on a cloudy day with a notebook and a cup of tea? I have been a fan of stationery since I went to the Sanrio Store in Times Square as a child and got a set of Hello Kitty pencils. I went to a German-style middle school in New York that required me to write all of my homework in fountain pen inked with blue or black ink, and later in life I returned to using fountain pens in my art as a way to have more control over my ink options.
Pretty ink tests!
Earlier this year I launched an online store where I sell stickers and other things I’ve made to raise money for causes I care about. I’ve already been able to donate over $700 from the sales and it is the work I am most proud of.
Grab some of these great stickers while they are still available!
I am such a sucker when it comes to unusual colors in pens and highlighters. So when I saw the Writech Retractable Highlighter (6-Color Set – Neutral) ($13 per set) I knew I had to give them a whirl. The set was particularly interesting because the pens are RETRACTABLE! I don’t think I’ve ever used a retractable highlighter. If you use your highlighters for actual highlighting in textbooks or for annotating books, then a retractable highlighter might be just what you need.
The knock does require a bit more oomph to press it completely than a regular gel or ballpoint knock. Its not hard to do, just a little longer. I think of it like the difference in the clutch in my MINI vs the long clutch in my husband’s VW. Neither one is better, just difference.
The colors in this set are not as “neutral” as the name would imply. The colors are more what I’d compare to the Mildliners than the Stabilo Boss NatureCOLORS. The set includes Antique Purple, Aqua Green, Dahlia Pink, Grape Green, Olive Green, and Pale Green. Its a bit surprising that the set includes three shades of green, one bluish and a pink and purple.
I dug around in my stash and found the Stabilo Boss NatureCOLORS and the Zebra Mildliners that were laying about (probably not all the ones that were in the Natural color set. I did think the comparison would help show the color similarities and differences.
The Writech Retractable Highlighters are a bit more bright compared to the Stabil Boss set but kind of similar to the Mildliner color. I have purged a lot of the Mildliners that I had so I probably have a milder Mildliner collection. Overall though, I think the Writech Retractable Highlighters are a fun color range.
Mildliners do come with two tips though which make them a bit more flexible to use. They can be purchased with either a chisel tip and bullet tip or with a brush tip and a bullet tip which gets a bit more punch per pen. But they don’t retract.
On an actual textbook, the colors are overall pleasantly light. Not glaring except for the first green at the top of the page which quite grassy green. I like the other colors for highlighting.
I don’t know if the neutral color set will be the favorite for most but there are six color options: mild, neon, vintage, pastel, natural and this neutral set. Maybe the natural set will be more “neutral” to me. Great. I guess I’ll buying another set.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I finished the Orilium Fall Equinox Magical Readathon Challenge this weekend. Its another in a long list of ways I’m gamifying my life. The challenge started on September 1 and is filled with various RPG-style challenges to inspire participants to read more.
I read about eight books so far (the seven shown above as well as an extra credit read) and am trying to work through the Spring prompts as well in hopes to complete two semesters of prompts in one month. Yes, I am an overachiever.
While the September challenge is almost over, the same team hosts a “Lightfall” event in December and a Spring Equinox Readathon if this is something you might be interested in participating in in the future.
I like the game aspect, the group activities on Discord and getting to build a character to work through this readathon world. If gamification is something that might inspire you, consider participating in one of the future events.
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The chicken knitting business is winding down, so I’m seeing lots more interesting colored chickens with bits and bobs of leftovers. This week’s chicken is PINK with a smattering of other dusty tones.
The inks I found that sort of went along with the theme are:
Last week I decided to take on the challenge to use only “starter pens” for a week. I picked out all the Platinum Preppy pens I have and a franken-Pilot Prera. I tried to follow a similar process to Derek’s original challenge but had to modify it a little bit to make the challenge work for me and make sure that I could stick with it for a whole week.
Overall, I didn’t do as much writing or drawing as I’d hoped to do last week but I did use the “starter pens” throughout the week — I put my fancy, higher-end pens out of reach and only had the Platinum Preppys and the Pilot Prera (similar to a Pilot Kakuno in terms of nib material and size). I talked a bit with Derek who created this challenge and we both laughed that using what I have (specifically my franke-Pilot) is a great solution to the challenge.
One of the things I discovered is that the Platinum Preppy with the 03 nib is too wide for the small Hobonichi and Stalogy grid papers — at least for me. The 02 Extra Fine Platinum nib worked well for me but I only had one Platinum with this nib. The Pilot F nib which was installed in my Prera was fine enough to use with the tiny grid in my planners. What’s surprising is that the 02 EF Platinum nib is about the same width as the Pilot F. So, if you prefer wider nibs, go for the Platinum 03 or a Pilot M. I’m surprised I didn’t notice this difference sooner.
Most used pens: Platinum Prefounte with 03 F nib and Monteverde California Teal ink and the Pilot Prera with F nib and Kaweco Caramel Brown. Note the difference in the line widths.
The slip-n-seal caps of the Platinum meant there was never a hard start. Okay, that’s a lie. I have one dud Platinum. I think I let ink dry in it and cleaned it twice and still couldn’t get it to perform consistently. So, life lesson — clean your pens regularly. I will need to pull out my sonic cleaner and see if I can get it going again. It was my spare black ink Platinum and the wider 03 nib so I didn’t really miss it from the rotation.
I am glad I went ahead and syringe-filled the cartridges (or scavenged a converter) for these pens so I could use the ink colors I’d selected for my September planners and keep the overall look and feel of my planner, even though I switched pens mid-month.
As this week has come to an end, I’ve decided to continue using these pens through the end of the month. I’ve enjoyed using these little gems. Yes, the Prera breaks the below $20 level of the other “start pens” but since I didn’t own a Kakuno, it was the closest substitute for the challenge and provided me the finer nib size that I prefer overall.
Again, the Pilot prera with F nib and Kaweco Caramel Brown was used most. Its probably the most similar to my go-to Sailor Pro Gear Slim with F nib.
All of that said, I think we tend to put a lot of prestige on higher-priced, fancier fountain pens but this week proved to me that these budget-starter pens still bring a lot to the table. I hope it makes getting in to fountain pens less financially intimidating if someone is just starting out. These are GOOD pens.
In my Hobonichi Weeks organizing my Gamify points. I used the Platinum Preppy 02 with black ink and the Platinum Prefounte F nib with Monteverde California Teal.
I enjoyed this challenge so much I confess I did place an order for a couple of Pilot Kakunos so that I can try this again with the true “starter pens.”
Its not necessary to have under-$20 fountain pens to do this challenge. If you only have Kaweco Sports or Lamy Safaris, you can try this challenge with those pens as well. You could even use a combination of whatever “starter pens” you bought early in your fountain pen life. Do you like them as much as you did when you first discovered fountain pens? Do they still fill you with that sense of joy and adventure or have you realized that the nibs or shape isn’t your favorite? Its such a fun experiment. Let me know in the comments if you try this yourself.
