Currently Inked: March 9, 2025

How are y’all doing? I hope you are well this Sunday. Let’s talk about what I inked up this week! This week I focused on black, blue and teal inks. I inked up two of my favorite inks, Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi and Sailor Jentle Black. (This post contains Amazon affiliate links, just FYI. It gives me a small commission at no extra cost to you, and helps support this blog).

On Monday I used a Pilot Prera in Ivory with a fine nib full of Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi. It’s one of my favorite inks, and using the cartridges in this Prera is so convenient! My main ballpoint for the day was a Uni Jetstream Lite Touch ink in Shell White, 0.5 black ink from JetPens. I’m not a huge fan of ballpoints, but I wanted to give this one a go. I’m not super impressed. It’s fine, but not particularly good. For my colored pen I used a Writech Vintage Peacock Blue gel pen in 0.5, which is fabulous. So far I’ve been really impressed with Writech gel pens. This Staedtler Triplus Textsurfer Highlighter is a good one. I don’t love it as much as I love Zebra Mildliners, but it’s still a good highlighter.

On Tuesday I used an Esterbrook Model J Violet in fine, full of Sailor Jentle Black. I got this pen recently, and I usually fill new pens with Sailor Black first so I know how well the nib behaves. It’s my go-to ink. My bottle is running low, and it will probably be my first empty ink bottle. It’s crazy that I’ve never emptied a full bottle, but I use so many different inks and usually don’t focus on just one.

I prefer rollerballs over ballpoints, but I still prefer gel over both of them, so I wasn’t sure I would like this Uni-ball Vision Elite-0.5 black. I saw it on Brad’s top five rollerball list on the Pen Addict Blog and decided I needed to give it a try. For a rollerball I really like it. I used it for a really long writing session and was really impressed with how well it wrote.

For my colored pen I used a Staedtler Triplus Fineliner (I think this is the Mauve color). I love using these pens, they are wonderful to write on most papers including coated papers. I really like that the ink color matches the Esterbrook Model J. I used a Zebra Mildliner for my highlighter of the day, which are my all-time favorite highlighters.

This Jinhao 80 in brown was a surprise to me. I love the classic body of the Lamy 2000, but so far I haven’t been impressed with any of their nibs. Yes, I am super picky sometimes. I bought two of them and ended up selling them, and crazily enough I bought two more and need to sell them. The nibs just aren’t smooth enough for me. All of the four Lamy 2000’s I have purchased have a weird sweet spot and just a little bit stubbish. I like smooth round nibs, so the Lamy 2000 nib isn’t the dream for me. If I was headed to a pen show any time soon I would just have them worked on by a nibmeister, but unfortunately I’m not planning to attend any shows this year. Back to the Jinhao-it has a steel nib, but it’s really lovely and smooth. I really enjoy writing with it. I also like that it’s a cartridge converter since I prefer them over piston fillers. (I switch inks too often to love pistons-converters are easier and faster to clean). This pen is absolutely worth the $11 I spent on it.

I’m loving this Pentel Energel Infree Gel in 0.5 black. It’s interesting because it’s marketed as both a ballpoint and a gel. It’s nice and smooth and comfortable for longer writing sessions. The Uni-ball One 0.5 in Poppy Red’s ink is on the lighter side but I think it would be a perfect red to use in the spring season. This Kokuyo Mark + highlighter in Grey is nice; it works well and isn’t too dark.

In February I discovered the Pilot Kakuno for the first time, and I love it so much that I somehow ended up with four…luckily they aren’t very expensive. I’m loving the Madoromi series, but so far I’ve only found two of the colors in stock anywhere. I’m waiting for the other colors. This Drowsy Blue one is full of Sailor 50 States New York, which is a fabulous dark navy blue.

Why do I keep trying ballpoints when I know I don’t usually like them? Clearly (like the Lamy 2000), I give pens way too many chances. This Zebra Blen 2+S includes a black and red ballpoint 0.5 refill, and a 0.5 pencil. It is comfortable to use, but the ink doesn’t flow smoothly enough for me to write at a comfortable speed. I found myself slowing down for the ink to keep up.

As stated above, I’m loving the Writech gel pens. This one is the Dual Color 0.5 in Azure and Turquoise. I really enjoy how smoothly they write. The Monami Essenti Soft Highlighter in Brown is a really good alternative to the Zebra Mildliner. If you can’t get your hands on the Mildliner, give the Essenti Soft a try.

I have the nicest readers! I had mentioned I was looking for a used Pilot Custom 74 in fine (I have two 74’s in medium and love them, but lately I’ve been using smaller nib sizes), and the kindest reader sent me one! This one is in the Smoke color, and the nib is wonderful. I filled it with Teranishi Guitar Smoky Navy, which I absolutely love. It’s a fabulous ink!

I tried out a Yasutomo Y&C Xtreme Gel pen in 0.5 black. It’s a solid “meh” for me. It’s alright, not great, just okay. It’s not one I would use for longer writing sessions, and it’s definitely not a daily writer for me. The TUL 0.5 however, is lovely and smooth. This is the purple version, and I really like it. I’ve enjoyed all of the TUL pens I’ve tried so far. Once again, the Monami Essenti Soft Highlighter is a good choice.

The Jinhao 82 in Caribbean Sea Blue-fine is nice and smooth. If you haven’t noticed yet, I prefer smooth nibs over ones with feedback. I’ve tried a lot of Sailor pens, and I never like the nib feedback. I ended up selling all but two of the Sailor pens I own. This Jinhao has a steel nib, but I really enjoy writing with it. I do wish the nib was just a touch wetter, so next time I’ll fill it with a slightly wetter ink. I love Sailor Jentle Yama-dori, but it wasn’t quite the perfect match for this pen.

I need to stop buying the same type of pen over and over! I’m not a fan of Pilot Frixion pens, which is crazy since they are so popular. The ink has a stingy flow and the ink is more of a grey rather than black. I decided to give this one (The Pilot Frixion Ball Knock Zone Gel-Break Time Beige-0.5 Black) a shot since it’s a “gel” version of the frixion ink and it’s definitely an improvement over the standard ink in my opinion-it’s darker and flows easier.

The Zebra Sarasa Clip Vintage in 0.5 is such a good pen. I have both sets of five and love all of them. The colors are fabulous and the ink flows well. This Tombow Kei Coat Highlighter in Brown is a little reddish for me, but it still works well.

Sunday’s pens include a Majohn T1, a Pilot Dr. Grip, a Papermate Inkjoy Gel, a Zebra Mildliner and a Sharpie. The Majohn T1 in Vintage Brass has a fine nib full of Sailor Ink Studio 864 (one of the colors Sailor retired). I found this one to be comfortable in the hand, but there’s something about the nib that just feels off to me. I can’t quite put my finger on it. I don’t enjoy using it on coated papers, but I like it just fine on non-coated paper. It’s the weirdest thing. I think it’s absolutely worth the $33 I paid for it though.

Another ballpoint. Seriously, there’s something wrong with me. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. I tried this Pilot Dr. Grip Multi Acro Ballpoint Mint Green. It has 0.5 ink in black, blue, green and red, as well as a 0.5 pencil. The pen is just a little bit too fat for my hands-it’s not super comfortable for longer writing sessions. Like the other ballpoints I shared above the ink just doesn’t flow as smoothly as I would like.

The Papermate Inkjoy Gel was my major pen crush of 2016. When it came out I had it in all the colors, albeit in the 0.7 size. I’ve recently switched to smaller tip sizes, so I picked up a pack of the Inkjoy pens in 0.5 and don’t regret it for a minute. The ink flows so smoothly!

The Zebra Mildliner is my favorite highlighter and I have it in a bunch of colors. If you haven’t seen them yet, there’s a new pack of Mildliners out there. The colors are fabulous, but I love the Mild Moss Green the best.

Here’s some inks I tested out this week while working on some reviews. I love three of these inks. I have a review coming this week for Pilot Iroshizuku Rikka, but the short version is that it’s just as good as the other Pilot Iroshizuku inks I’ve already tried. Teranishi Guitar Night Time Soda-I love Teranishi inks. They’ve become one of recent hyper focuses. I’ve tested out quite a few of them and absolutely love them! I actually have a review of Teranishi Innocent Mauve that will publish later this week as well. Diamine Port of Call is a wonderful medium blue.

Most of these inks were too pale for me, but Ink Institute Lavender Coral was the most readable out of the five. I’m not really a fan of any of these inks sadly.

Here’s the swab for Teranishi Innocent Mauve. I’m really digging Mauve’s lately, I have no idea why. Diamine Athol Violet is a really good purple, and is well behaved. I tested out the four new Colorverse Blue Green Snake colors-I’m not a huge fan of any of the three shimmers, but I like the standard version just fine.

As you can tell from the photos above, I’ve gone a bit crazy with Chinese pens. I ordered all four of these early in February and they just recently started showing up at my door. The only one I didn’t have inked up this week is the Jinhao 10 in Caramel Orange Gradient. I was a bit disappointed in the nib-it’s not quite as smooth as these other Chinese pens, and the ink dried out super fast. So far it’s not a replacement for my Pilot Vanishing Points. I do love the color though.

Here’s some other currently for this week:

Watching: I’ve been watching a lot of Booktube this week. I love getting good book recommendations from people who read as much as I do. The channel I’ve been watching the most is Chantel Reads All Day. She shares everything from classics to new releases, which is right up my alley. I read a lot of different genres, and she shares books from all of them.

Listening to: Like my reading, the music I listen to is very eclectic. This week I listened to a lot of Matt Hansen. My favorite song of his is called Strangers Again. I also listened to quite a few podcasts including The Pen Addict, The Read Well Podcast and a new-to-me podcast called Stationery Adjacent.

Reading: In watching Chantel Reads All Day videos, I came across a playlist called DIY Literature Degree. I attended public school growing up, and even though I took all of the AP English classes that were available, I feel like I missed out on a lot. When I went to college I took a ton of English classes, most of them just for fun. I still feel like I never discovered a much as I wanted to know about literature. I read a lot, often to the tune of around 300 books a year (I listen to a lot of books on double speed while I work and I read fast). Chantel offers some practical tips for designing your own diy literature degree which I loved. I’ve added a ton of books to my TBR and started reading even more.

I have books stashed everywhere. Currently I’m reading one book when I’m downstairs, one upstairs, one on my kindle before bed, one on my phone for when I’m out and about, and one audiobook. My favorite at the moment is Sherlock Holmes The Hound of the Baskervilles. I read it about 4 times when I was in middle/high school and loved it, so it was time for a re-read.

Drinking: Dirty Coke: Coca Cola, coconut flavoring, cream and a lime. I know it sounds super weird but it’s delicious. My husband thinks I’m crazy for liking it. (Yes, I know about the Coca Cola boycott, but I’ve decided to use up what I have and not buy more).

Cooking: I recently discovered the Baker by Nature blog and it’s so good. I made these Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts (Made with Brown Butter) and my kids went crazy for them. I’m a mean mom-I don’t often let them have doughnuts, but I made these ones with whole wheat flour and they were delicious.

Making: I have 33 nieces and nephews, which is a lot of birthday presents. This year I’ve been making the Sallie Tomato Mia purse for my nieces, which they have been loving. I have one I need to make today for my 9-year-old niece. She picked lavender unicorn fabric and lavender faux leather.

Hating: Daylight Savings. It goofs up my kids sleeping schedules, which is not fun for me. Also insomnia. I started this blog post at 1AM this morning because I couldn’t sleep for the life of me.

Burning: Goose Creek Pink Peonies (apparently it’s already out of stock, but I’ve been impressed with all of their 3-wick candles). I’m not usually a floral candle fan, but peony has really grown on me. I’m also loving lilac candles for spring. I know it’s not technically spring yet, but I’m so ready for it.

Shopping for: I’m not actually shopping right now. I’m on a self-imposed no-buy for the month of March, and probably April too. I’ve just consumed too much lately and I’m trying to cut back a bit.

If you have any recommendations for me this week, let me know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which give me a small commission at no further cost to you, but this post is not sponsored.